


Something Just Like This - Lukanette February 2020

by Quickspinner



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Endgame Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, F/M, Fluff, Lukanette, Lukanette February, Reunions, but everyone will end up friends, lmfeb2020, lukanette endgame, so just stay with me k, some lessons to learn, there's gonna be some conflict
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 38,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22517839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quickspinner/pseuds/Quickspinner
Summary: Luka's picked up an extra job delivering flowers for Valentine's Day, and to his surprise one of his deliveries is to Marinette Dupain-Cheng. They lost touch a few years ago, but she's back in town and this chance meeting seems like a great time to pick up where their friendship where they left off.Chapters based on the lukanette-month prompts, so length will vary, but they'll all form a connected story.
Relationships: Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 423
Kudos: 636





	1. Mine

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Что-то похожее — Февраль Луканетта 2020](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23480878) by [SNL](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SNL/pseuds/SNL)



Luka rolled his eyes as he took the arrangement carefully out of his van. It was huge and brightly colored and had a large heart-shaped balloon stuck in it that had a picture of a lace doily (or something) with the words  _ Be Mine _ in obnoxiously bright pink letters. Gag. He hoped the message on the card was nice because this thing was such a cliché it pained him to look at it. 

Luka glanced at the apartment number and hoofed his way up the stairs, pausing at a blandly generic door with a cute ladybug print welcome mat outside of it. He knocked and waited, checking the name as he waited for an answer. Huh, well that was a funny coincidence—the door opened and his head came up automatically, the words tumbling out of his mouth on autopilot.

“Hi, I have a delivery for—Marinette?” Luka blinked at the woman in front of him. She had changed, sure— _ grown _ , but he’d know those eyes anywhere. 

“Luka?” Marinette gaped, just as stunned as he was, and he had the barest instant to be pleased she recognized him before she threw herself at him. “Oh my gosh!”

He caught her with one arm, instinctively raising the flowers out of harm’s way with the other.

“Oh my gosh, Luka!” she cried again, “It’s so good to see you, it’s been years!” 

“It has,” Luka chuckled, giving her a quick squeeze with the one arm he had around her. Wow, okay, that felt different in ways he was  _ not _ going to think about right now.

“Wow, you’re strong,” she said, pushing back with her hands on his shoulders, squeezing appreciatively. Luka grinned and shrugged, trying not to look too pleased. 

“Believe it or not you can actually get injured playing the guitar; building muscle in the shoulders and arms helps prevent it.” 

“Doesn’t hurt at shows either, I’ll bet,” she teased with far more brazenness than the Marinette he remembered would ever have had.

Then again, she clearly wasn’t the Marinette he remembered. At fourteen she was cute, at twenty-two she was—His eyes flicked over her, up and down, and he bit his lip. She’d kept her slim figure, but her sharp edges had all rounded off, and she’d added confidence to that cheerful glow she’d already had. No more hunched shoulders, feet too close together, or slightly ducked head. Marinette stood with her shoulders thrown back, one hand on her hip, her stance was strong, a brilliant smile on her face, and she was just...   


“Wow,” was all he could say, shaking his head. “You look—you look amazing, Marinette.” She lit up pink, and he had to laugh. Maybe she hadn’t changed  _ that  _ much. 

“I grew up a little since you saw me last,” she giggled, winking.

“Mm, not  _ so _ much,” he teased, leveling a hand with her head. The top of her head used to be level with his eyes; now she was closer to his chin. 

“Oh, a short joke already, Luka?” Marinette pouted. “Oh my gosh, where are my manners, please come in! How did you even know I was here? I just moved in last week.’

“Oh,” Luka suddenly remembered what he was doing there. “I—I can’t stay, I’m working, I just wanted to bring you this. I mean, I was sent to bring you this—” he eyed the arrangement again. “It, uh, definitely wasn’t my idea.”

To his mild surprise, Marinette wrinkled her nose as she looked at the flowers. “Great,” she sighed, and then shook her head quickly. “I mean, thanks, Luka, I don’t mean to be rude. It’s just, I'm pretty sure I know who these are from and, well...I’d rather he didn’t.” She perked up a little. “Although it did mean I got to see you, so I guess I should be grateful after all.” The grin on his face was growing moment by moment. “So, delivering flowers instead of pizza now?” 

That brought him back to earth real fast. “Oh, yeah, I—well actually I work at a music store, you know,” he said in a rush, “Instrument sales and rental and all that, and I still write and perform and I do some production work when I can get it. It’s not always the steadiest work though, and it’s been a bit slow lately. There’s always a rush for delivery people leading up to Valentine’s, so Rose got me this gig at the place she works. It’s cool, people are happy to see me, and happy people tip generously, so…” he shrugged. “Just picking up some extra cash on the side.”

“I think that’s great that you find ways to support yourself so that you can keep doing what you love,” Marinette smiled warmly. “It’d break my heart to hear you were working at some soulless nine to five and letting your passion for music wither away.”

“Well, I never could disappoint you,” Luka chuckled, and then he sighed. “But I do kinda have to go, so—” He held up the flowers. “You want these, or should I just drop them in the dumpster on my way out?”

“No, that would be a waste,” Marinette grumbled. “I’ll take them. I guess I just have to call him and tell him it’s not going to happen, I’m not his and I don’t want to be. Again.”

Luka frowned. “Again? Marinette, are you safe?” He grimaced. “Sorry, I know I’m probably overreacting—”

“No, you’re just being you. Sweet and concerned for everybody,” Marinette smiled, putting a hand on his arm and letting it slide off. “I’m fine. He’s harmless, I promise, just...overly enthusiastic. It’s, um...complicated.” She blushed and looked uncomfortable.

“Sure,” Luka said sympathetically. “I didn’t mean to pry.” 

“You didn’t,” Marinette said, taking the flowers and leaning on the doorframe. She looked at him with a softness in her blue eyes that made him weak, even after all this time. “Thanks, Luka. For the concern, as well as the flowers. Oh!” She straightened and turned back into her apartment. “I know you have to go, but hang on just one minute...where are they...argh…” 

Luka put his hands on his hips and looked at the ground, shoulders shaking slightly with laughter as he listened to her dig around. He lifted his head again as she reappeared, looking at her through his shaggy bangs. She held out a card decorated with her signature flowers and a monogrammed M. “Here’s my new number,” she told him, smiling hopefully. “I’d love to see you again sometime soon. Maybe we can get together and catch up?”

“I’d love that,” Luka grinned, taking the card. “It was really great to see you again, Marinette, even if only for a few minutes. I’m glad you’re doing so well.”

“I’m glad to see you too, Luka,” she said, with more warmth than was good for him. “But I won’t keep you, you’ve got places to be. Text me, okay?” She popped out of the door for a moment and he leaned down automatically to receive and return her bise. “Have a good day!”

Luka went down the steps with a stupid, dazed grin on his face. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, after all this time. Once he got back to the van he programmed her number into his phone, and shook his head incredulously as he put her business card carefully in his wallet. 


	2. Time

Luka climbed the stairs with less enthusiasm than he had the day before. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see Marinette again, he did, but not for such a weird reason. He carried another arrangement of flowers, smaller, but with a small gold ladies’ watch nestled in the midst of them. He didn’t even want to think about how much getting this arrangement custom-made cost, let alone the cost of the watch itself. He’d never even seen Marinette wear a watch, but maybe that had changed.

There was a yelp and a crash from inside the apartment when he knocked, making Luka wince, and Marinette yelled “Hang on, I’m coming!” The door opened, and she looked as good as she had yesterday, though she’d clearly been working; her hair was tied up and she had a pincushion on her wrist—right where a watch would sit. 

“Luka!” she said, blinking, looking almost more surprised than yesterday.

“Hey,” he grinned, a little sheepishly. “Fancy meeting you again so soon.”

Marinette’s surprised eyes dropped from his face to the arrangement in his hands, and her expression immediately shifted to one of exasperation. “Damnit,” she muttered, taking the arrangement and checking the card. “Of course he thinks he’s funny. This isn’t what I had in mind when I said I needed time.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Luka couldn’t help asking. In his experience, guys who wouldn’t take no for an answer were almost always bad news, and guys who pressed the issue with expensive gifts were even worse. 

Marinette looked up at him and smiled. “I am, really, I promise. It’s—”

“Complicated,” Luka finished with a smile back. “If you say so, Marinette, but honestly I don’t really see what’s complicated about a lady saying ‘no.’ Seems pretty clear if you ask me. Which you didn’t, so. I’ll shut up, sorry.”

Marinette beamed at him and he swore his heart stopped beating. “You’re really the sweetest, Luka.” 

Luka scoffed, ruffling the hair at the back of his head. “If you say so. Seems like common decency to me, but I’ll take it.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “I just want you to be safe.” 

Marinette smiled, and reached up to his hand—and then he wasn’t quite sure what happened, except that suddenly he was plastered to the wall on his knees, one arm twisted behind his back. 

“You really don’t need to worry about me,” she teased in his ear, and then kissed his cheek and let him go. “But thanks for your concern.” 

She let him go and stepped back, and Luka found it in himself to turn around, landing on his butt as he stared up at her. “A girl living alone these days has to know how to take care of herself, after all.” Marinette offered him a hand and Luka took it numbly, and watched the muscle swell under her sleeve as her arm flexed to pull him up. 

“Damn, Marinette,” was all he could say once he was back on his feet. 

She grinned and winked. “If he comes after me, I’ll break him in half.”

“Careful, he might enjoy it,” Luka said, still stunned, and then turned red as Marinette’s grin widened. 

“I’m starting to think  _ you _ might enjoy it,” she said, laughter in her voice. 

There was really no recovering from this so Luka just rolled with it, putting a hand over his heart. “Don’t joke, my heart can’t take it. When did you become such a tease, Marinette?” 

Marinette put her hands on her hips and stepped close to him, looking up into his face with the smile of a girl who knew exactly what kind of effect she could have. “It’s been a long time, Couffaine. You don’t know  _ what _ I am anymore.” 

Oh hell, was he in trouble. “Smart, sweet, gorgeous, and completely badass?” He managed to hold his ground, but only barely. “You haven’t changed  _ that  _ much, Marinette.”

It was worth the effort because Marinette lit up in a blush that was not pink but deep, deep red, and nearly tripped over her feet backing off. They both stammered out a hurried goodbye and fled, Marinette into her apartment and Luka down the stairs two at a time.

Luka sat in the van with his head on the steering wheel, covered by his arms, for almost ten minutes of internal screaming before he was able to get back to his route. 


	3. Candy Hearts

“I’m really sorry,” Luka said when Marinette opened the door. He was trying valiantly not to laugh, but Marinette’s mystery admirer had really kind of lost his mind this time in Luka’s opinion. “I swear,” he choked back a laugh, “I just work here.”

He handed her a large bag of candy hearts—personalized candy hearts, some with fairly standard messages like  _ meant 2 b _ and others that said things like  _ ur pawsome _ and  _ bugaboo _ , which, what?

Marinette groaned and Luka put his fist over his mouth, feeling his face turn red with the effort of keeping his laughter in. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Marinette grumbled. “I hate these things. He might as well have sent me a pound of chalk with cheesy sayings written on them. What am I even going to do with these? What a waste of—as if I need more clutter.”

Luka lost his fight against laughter, leaning against her door frame for support. “I’m sorry,” he chuckled when he managed to get himself back under control. “I’m sorry, it’s just I was thinking exactly the same thing as I came up the stairs. Not—not that I’m judging—” he said hastily, “I mean, you know I was raised with the, uh, lived-in look, as Maman likes to call it.” 

Marinette just looked amused. 

“I’m sure you’ll think of a creative use for it,” Luka coughed, trying to muster some control, but the whole situation was so ridiculous he was having a hard time. It was kind of embarrassing for a twenty-four year old man to have caught the giggles this badly, but he just couldn’t help himself. 

“Oh my gosh, Luka, shut up,” Marinette complained, mouth twitching. “It’s not funny!”

“It’s totally funny,” Luka managed to say before he lost it again. “I’m so sorry,” he choked out, one hand around his middle as he struggled for air. 

Marinette couldn’t hold out in the face of his hilarity and began to giggle. 

“I’m sorry,” Luka gasped again as she collapsed against him. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t laugh, it’s just so—who  _ does _ that? Somebody with more money than sense, obviously. He must not know you very well, either.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “You’d be surprised. Go on, get out of here, clearly I have a phone call to make to a certain idiot with…” She wrinkled her nose at the bag of candy. “ _ No _ taste.”

Luks burst out laughing again. Marinette groaned and shut the door in his face.


	4. Chocolate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So everybody’s probably figured out the mystery gift giver here, and I just wanna say, stay with me till the end. There’s gonna be a little messiness along the way and all three of our babies are going to have to confront some of their own issues, but it’ll all end in love and friendship. If you’ve read All in the Family, think of that as the end point. They’ll get there, they just all have some stuff to deal with first.

Luka really had to question his sanity as he climbed Marinette’s stairs for the fourth time with a gift from another man. Sure, it was his job, but it was just a temp job, and he could’ve asked for someone else to take over this particular address. The fact that he didn’t want to was probably a warning sign.

The fact that he hadn’t been able to resist texting her even though he was seeing her every day was definitely a warning sign.

Moving on and letting go was an intrinsic and undeniable part of growing up, and one Luka had always accepted. He gave what he had in the moment, and then when the time came, he let go with good will and good thoughts and hopes for everyone’s future happiness. People came into his life for a time and then they continued on their path and he continued on his. It was harder with Marinette, because he had truly loved her, as deeply as he was capable of at the time. But when the band broke up and Juleka’s friends scattered to different lycees and then different universities, he had, after a short struggle made up of infrequent and often unreturned text message conversations, and agreements to meet up “soon” that never resolved into concrete plans, accepted Marinette’s dwindling presence in his life as he had all the others. She had faded to a fond memory, an affectionate, wistful thought. He left her to her path and focused on his, wishing her nothing but happiness and the great things he believed she was destined for.

Seeing her again, so unexpectedly, and so—so vibrant and confident and  _ alive _ , a far cry from the tired, worn-down girl that had cried on his shoulder so long ago...

Yeah, hi, welcome to Unresolved Feelingsville, population Luka Glutton-for-Punishment Couffaine. 

Luka sighed and knocked on Marinette’s door. This time she looked resigned as she opened the door. Luka offered her the package. This time it was a heart-shaped box of chocolates framed by roses. Better than yesterday by far, but still cliché and expensive as hell. Not that his opinion mattered.

Marin squealed and ripped the cellophane off the box of chocolate immediately and selected one. “I’m still mad at him but wow, I needed this today,” she sighed.

Luka watched, swallowing hard, as she put the chocolate covered caramel between her perfect, pink lips, and he really shouldn’t have looked at that because he’d spent a lot more time staring at her lips than he should have when they were teenagers, and the last thing he needed was the memory of the little moan she made and the smear of chocolate on her lower lip when she pulled the caramel away. 

“Is he winning you over?” Luka teased, only half-joking, trying to look literally anywhere else but her mouth and failing. 

Marinette gave him a withering look. “Not hardly, but if I have to put up with this, I’ll enjoy it where I can.  _ Nothing _ is going right today and I deserve chocolate just for putting up with his crap. Which I feel really guilty saying, because he has such sweet intentions, just...really awful timing. And then having to feeling guilty just makes me mad.” She sighed. “Want one?” She popped the rest of the caramel in her mouth, selected another chocolate with her delicate, chocolate-smudged fingers, and offered the box to him.

“I shouldn’t, they’re for you,” Luka said, holding up a hand. “I wouldn’t feel right.”

Marinette pouted and ugh why was he so weak. Luka shifted his weight nervously, trying to think of an exit strategy before she killed him, and why was he still standing here anyway? “He gave them to me so I get to do what I want with them,” Marinette said. “And I want to share them with you. Pretty sure that’s a dark chocolate orange crème at the bottom,” she song-singed, waving the box at him and raising the chocolate in her hand toward her mouth.

Luka couldn’t watch her put another chocolate between those plump pink lips without spontaneously combusting, so he dropped his eyes to the box and took the chocolate that rested at the point of the heart. “I can’t believe you remember that,” he muttered before he popped it in his mouth.

“I never forget a favorite sweet,” Marinette winked playfully, licking the chocolate off her fingers, apparently oblivious, though he thought he saw a flash of mischief as she glanced up at him. “I can only assume I’m in for this for—“ she checked the date. “At least nine more days. Why don’t you just save me for last tomorrow, and you can stay for dinner after? We’ve still hardly had time to talk and I want to hear how Juleka’s doing.”

It sounded like flimsy excuse even to him but Luka wasn’t about to turn her down. Really, in that moment, he doubted he could have denied her anything. 


	5. Hands

“This is just...weird,” Luka said, shaking his head, when Marinette opened her door. “It’s weird to show up at a girl’s house for dinner with flowers from someone else. I mean, I know we’re not dating but it just—” He shook his head again and handed Marinette another pretty but boring flower arrangement in hand, this one with a certificate for a mani-pedi at a fancy spa attached. 

“He’s getting better at the gifts at least,” Marinette observed with a sigh. “He probably asked Nino. Did you bring the cider?” 

“Nino knows him?” Luka asked as Marinette stepped back and waved him in. “Oh, yeah, here.” Luka held up a six pack of hard cider. It turned out neither one of them cared much for beer. 

“Great, can you put it in the fridge where I find somewhere to put this one?” Marinette sighed, indicating the kitchen. “I think the first set is starting to die, maybe I can use that vase…”

Luka followed directions, glancing at the oven. “It smells great in here,” he commented as he opened her extremely organized refrigerator. “You want a drink now?” 

“Thanks!” Marinette called, “And yes please.” 

He took two bottles out to the living room with him and handed her one when she reappeared. “So can I ask where you met Mr. Persistent?”

Marinette made a face. “Must you?”

"No,” Luka shrugged, accepting her invitation to sit down on the couch and trying not to watch as she sat down across from him and tucked her legs under her. “I don’t have to if you don’t want to talk about it.”

Marinette sighed, leaning her chin on her hand. “I...kind of don’t want to tell you. It’s embarrassing, and...I’m not sure if you’ll laugh or be hurt.”

Luka was confused. “Why would I be hurt?”

Marinette put her face in her hands and moaned, then looked up at him, lacing her fingers together as she pursed her lips, and then finally she burst out, “Because it’s Adrien.”

It took Luka several seconds to process that. “Adrien Agreste?” he asked finally.

Marinette nodded, still looking at him across her laced fingers.

Luka opened his mouth and closed it again, feeling like he should have figured it out sooner. Persistent but harmless. Expensive but rather clichéd gifts. More money than sense. Good intentions and crappy timing. “So, let me get this straight,” he said, aware that Marinette was looking at him as if she expected some sort of outburst, but he’d address that in a minute. “All these gifts are from Adrien Agreste, the guy you were completely head over heels for, but who was totally oblivious to your feelings no matter how obvious it was to the  _ entire rest of the world _ ?”

“Gee, Luka, don’t hold back,” Marinette muttered, looking away.

“Sorry.” Luka reached out and touched her shoulder. “Sorry, that was insensitive. Okay, but so somewhere along the line he caught feelings and you got over yours?”

“The first part of that is recent,” Marinette sighed. “I gave up on him romantically a couple years ago, but we’ve stayed friends. He’s become my  _ best  _ friend, actually. Then he…” She paused, and chewed her lip.

“You know you don’t have to tell me, Marinette,” he said, squeezing her shoulder. “I’ll admit I asked because I was still worried, even though you can clearly take care of yourself, but if it’s Adrien, I’m not that concerned. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s, I’m just trying to figure out how to phrase it,” Marinette sighed, raking her fingers through her hair. “He...found out something about me recently and had a bit of an epiphany, and now he’s…” she gestured at the flower arrangements lined up on the windowsill. “Like this. I think it’s too late for us, that we’re better off as friends, but he thinks he can convince me otherwise if I just give us a chance.” She leaned her chin on her hand. “And the thing is, it would be easy to give him that, you know? Maybe it would be okay, and maybe I could just go along with it, but...I just don’t think I want to go down that road. I don’t want to give him that kind of hope and then break his heart to bits after he gets attached to the idea of ‘us.’” She made finger quotes. “I’ve told him that but he never really grew out of that tendency to believe in the storybook ending. I  _ know  _ he thinks we’re meant to be, so…” She shrugged. “Maybe he thinks if he just finds the right combination of words and gestures that suddenly the magic will happen.” 

There were a few beats of silence.

“Well, clearly he hasn’t learned much about feelings in the last four years,” Luka commented wryly.

Marinette blinked at him, and then burst into laughter so consuming that Luka had to join her.

“Well, to be fair, he hasn’t really had the chance. Or anyone to teach him. Nino tries, and Adrien _ is _ doing a little better, it’s just when he gets excited about something he falls back on what he knows.” Marinette sighed as the laughter faded. “And let’s be honest...it’s not like he’s had to face a lot of rejection in his life so it’s not surprising that he doesn’t know how to give up gracefully. It’s not like I have any room to throw stones. I was pretty cringeworthy about my crush back in the day.”

Luka snorted. “You were fourteen, Marinette, it’s  _ not _ the same thing.”

She didn’t seem to hear him, picking idly at the couch upholstery and not looking at him. “Luka, I can’t tell you how stupid I feel for…” She hunched in on herself a little. “For, everything between you and me. I really treated you badly and I’ve always regretted it. I mean, not even in the,  _ I wish I’d chosen you _ sense. I can see now, looking back, I was in no way ready for that kind of relationship. More just, I wish I had handled it better.”

“Marinette, you were fourteen,” Luka reminded her again, more gently this time. “Believe me, we all have those cringe memories of stupid things we wish we hadn’t done. But you don’t need to apologize to me, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

Marinette gave him a flat look. “Desperada.”

Luka winced, sucking air in between his teeth. “Okay, yeah, you’re allowed to apologize for that one, but, Marinette, I never held any of that against you. I was glad to have you in my life and I’m still glad for that.” He chuckled. “Who would have thought it was Adrien who’d bring us back together?”

Marinette giggled. “I haven’t told him it’s been you delivering his things.”

Luka snorted. “Yeah, that might be awkward.”

“And I don’t want him to ask for somebody else,” Marinette said, reaching over to take his hand where it rested on his knee. “It’s been fun, getting to see you every day, even if it was only for a few minutes. And I can commiserate with you. If it was a stranger I’d have to smile and pretend to like it.” She squeezed his hand. “You’ve always let me be myself with you.”

“Well,” Luka said, without really thinking it through, “I’ve always thought yourself was pretty great.” 

Marinette smiled and squeezed his hand again before letting go and looking away, blushing and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. Luka became aware of the fond look he was giving her and tore his eyes away, clearing his throat. 

They were saved from the awkward moment by the oven timer. “Oh good, dinner’s ready,” Marinette said, popping off the couch. 

“Can I help?” Luka asked, but she waved him off. 

“Nope, table’s already set and everything. Just go sit down and I’ll bring out the food.”


	6. Cherry

“She’s still modeling but she knows it won’t be a forever thing,” Luka said, smiling fondly as he scooped the last bite off his plate. “She’s actually starting grad school in the fall to become a therapist.”

“Really?” Marinette gasped. “She’ll be so good at that!”

Luka nodded, smile widening a little at Marinette’s enthusiasm. “She’s come a long way.” He reaches into his back pocket to pull out his phone. He pulled up a photo of himself and Juleka together and handed it to Marinette. 

“Oh,” Marinette sighed. “She’s beautiful, and she looks so happy. And you two together, you just...you look like you belong. I wish I had that. I mean, I do with my parents, but sometimes I wish I had a sibling.” 

“She’s a pain, but I wouldn’t give her up,” Luka admitted, accepting his phone back. 

“Ready for dessert?” Marinette asked, getting up and taking his now-empty plate.

“There’s more?” Luka sat back. “How did you even have time for all of this?” 

“None of this is as hard as it looks,” Marinette said, on the way to the kitchen. “I’ve become a master of making things look harder than they are.”

Luka began to laugh. “I always thought you were a master at making things harder than they had to be,” he chuckled. “I guess that’s an improvement.” 

“Keep talking like that,” Marinette sniffed as she exited the kitchen. “And no pie for you.” 

“Wow,” Luka said, looking at the pie with round eyes. “Yes ma’am, shutting up right now.”

“Amaretto cherry,” Marinette said proudly, and then sighed. “Honestly, I’ve been doing a lot of stress baking lately.” She cut the pie and put a piece on each of their plates, then handed him a small bowl of whipped cream to add as he liked.

“Why so stressed?” Luka asked, spooning some of the whipped cream onto his slice and passing the bowl back to her. 

“I’m getting ready to start my first real job in the fashion industry,” Marinette sighed. “I’ve done internships while I was at school, but this is the real deal. I actually had to bust my ass to graduate in December so I could take this job, and it’s a huge opportunity for me. A lot of people are doing grunt work for years before they get an opportunity like this. It’s...It’s going to be crazy. I’m trying to get my house in order—literally,” she motioned to the stack of boxes still against one wall of the apartment, “As well as figuratively, before I have to start. Because once I do, it’s going to be crazy. I’ve got commissions to finish and I’m not finished unpacking and I never really did much traveling before but I’m going to be going all over the place for different events and things they want me to help out with and what happens if I crash and burn, not literally but—well it could be literally, I mean it happens and what if we do have a plane crash or a car crash and then I’m in the hospital and I don’t have time to go the hospital, Luka, I have way too much to do and if I blow this I’ll be blacklisted from the industry forever and—“

“Marinette,” Luka interrupted firmly, slipping a bit into his stage voice, and Marinette’s face snapped towards him. “Breathe.” He reaches across the small table and took her hand. “I get it, but that’s not now. What’s now, Marinette?”

Her eyes lost that panicked edge. “You,” Marinette said, and somehow the way she said it made his face heat. “You’re now.” She squeezed his hand. “The table is now.” She flattened her hand on the table top. “I am now,” she recited to herself, closing her eyes and taking a couple of deep breaths.

“Good,” Luka squeezed her hand back as he watched a little of the tension go out of her. “We’re here now, sitting at this table, and eating this fantastic pie.” 

Marinette smiled at him. “Right. Thanks, Luka.”


	7. Notes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little short today but tomorrow will make up for it!

“I’ll clean up,” Marinette said, shoving him back out of the kitchen when he tried to follow her.

“Marinette, no,” he protested. “You’ve already done all this work, the least I can do is—”

“Will you play for me instead?” 

Luka stopped, and smiled, feeling a little flush of pleasure. “You want me to?”

“I’d love it,” Marinette smiled back. “I haven’t heard you play in forever. You were amazing back then, you must be incredible now.”

Luka was surprised how hot his face was all of a sudden. If there was one thing he was confident of, it was his skill with the guitar. It wasn’t something he normally got embarrassed or self-conscious about. Even so, her faith in him touched a nerve.

“I’ll let you judge,” was all he said, going to get his guitar. “Anything you want to hear?”

“You pick, you always find the right song for the moment.”

He found a place to sit where he could still see and hear her, and closed his eyes, strumming idly until a song came to mind, and then he began to play.

“How do you do that?” 

“Do what?” Luka asked, opening his eyes.

Marinette just shook her head, and then began to bob it to the beat of his song as she worked. Luka glanced up in mild surprise as she started to sing. “She said where d’you wanna go, how much you wanna risk, I’m not looking for somebody with some superhuman gifts. Some superhero, some fairytale bliss. Just something I can turn to, somebody I can kiss. I want something just like this.” The last line came out so much like a sigh that Luka’s eyebrows raised slightly, but she just looked back at him with a fond smile that made him blush for no reason. 

“I missed you,” Marinette said, setting the last dish in the drying rack and coming over to him. “I missed your music in my life.”

Luka looked up at her and smiled. “I missed yours too,” he said quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a lovely acoustic cover of Something Just Like This (the original is by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay) https://youtu.be/rLnhfqcNFVQ


	8. Teddy Bears

“You snapped out of that spiral earlier pretty fast,” Luka commented as Marinette came out of the kitchen.

“Even with everything going on, I’m in a much better place than I was...back then,” she said with a smile and a small shrug. “I haven’t had a real panic attack in almost a year.”

“That’s awesome, Marinette. It’s really good to see you doing so well.”

“May I?” Marinette asked, gesturing to the space beside him

“Please,” he said, shifting slightly and setting his guitar aside. Marinette sat down next to him and leaned into his side. 

“Is this okay?” she asked, and smiled. “You’re just as warm as I remember.”

Luka chuckled, and lifted his arm to rest it on the back of the couch so she could come nearer if she wanted. She did, snuggling against him and pulling her legs up under her. Luka’s heartbeat quickened as she laid her head on his shoulder and it occurred to him he hadn’t been cuddled in forever.

Marinette’s thoughts must have run along the same lines because she said, “Sometimes being a grown up stinks. I don’t get nearly as many cuddles.”

“I don’t doubt you could find someone to cuddle you any time you wanted,” Luka chuckled. “It sounds like Adrien would be happy to be your teddy bear now.”

Marinette just snorted and looked amused. 

Luka kind of hated himself for what he was about to say, but he felt like he should. “Are you sure you don’t want to give him a chance? I don’t approve of his methods but he’s a good guy at heart and you were so into him—“

“That was years ago,” Marinette interrupted a little sharply. “It was hard to get over him but I did it and I don’t want to go back. I don’t like the person loving him made me and—I really like the friendship we have now. I just hope we can get through this phase with it intact.” She paused and lifted her head, eyeing him. “Do you really want me to date Adrien?” she asked.

Luka smiled back at her. “I just want you to be happy, Marinette. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you. If Adrien can make you happy then you know I’d support you.”

Marinette blushed and looked away. 

“But you know you best,” Luka continued, the pressure in his chest easing some. “And if you don’t think he can make you happy then I believe you.” Marinette shifted a bit, and again he got the sense there was something she was holding back. 

She seemed to hang in indecision for a moment, took a deep breath, and then it was gone. She wasn’t going to tell him. Instead Marinette threw him a playful look. “What about you, mister rock star? Surely you have someone to give you cuddles when you need them.” 

Luka was taken a bit off guard by the question. “Me? Oh, no, I’m not seeing anybody right now. I haven’t for a while, actually, now that I think about it,” he frowned, doing some quick mental math. Damn, had it really been that long? “My last relationship got kind of serious, until it ended. Until  _ she _ ended it. I haven’t been out much since then. A few first dates, not many second ones. I guess I just wasn’t ready.”

“Oh,” Marinette sighed sympathetically.

“I’m over it,” Luka shrugged. “The relationship part at least. We had our closure and I let her go, and I hope she finds happiness.” 

“But?” Marinette asked gently, putting a hand on his knee.

Luka sighed, and gave her a lopsided smile. “Her reasoning hurt. I knew she was ambitious, I knew she had goals, she was a really driven type of person and I Ioved that about her, but I also thought she knew I wasn’t like that and that she was okay with it. It just really stung, you know, hearing that I wasn’t enough, especially when we’d been together for over a year. I mean, I don’t blame her, I want her to do what makes her happy, I just…” He sighed again, tapping his fingers on the back of the couch. “I just wish she had believed me the first thousand times I said that I wasn’t looking to be a rock star. Would’ve saved us both some time. I’ve known for a while that I’m like Mom, you know, I’m just not cut out for that life. I like smaller venues and being near my family. If I’d known that all along she thought she was dating the next Jagged Stone,  _ I _ would have ended it.” 

“Luka,” Marinette breathed, horrified. 

Luka shifted slightly, fingers twitching. “I mean, I get how it looked to her, especially at the time. I wasn’t established yet. My income’s not steady, I have no career path, I’m practically married to my guitar. I’d never give up music or performing so I’m not available a lot on weekends, and she worked during the week of course. Still, I thought we were doing okay we made time for each other. Really, I guess I should feel flattered that Elaine had enough faith in my abilities to stay as long as she did. I mean, we did love each other, and I think she wanted it to work between us. She just thought eventually I would change my mind and go get famous and then all the effort we put in would be worth it. But I guess when she faced the reality that the schedule juggling wasn’t just a thing she had to put up with until I made it big or whatever, it was a deal beaker for her.” He saw the sympathy in Marinette’s face, realized how pathetic he sounded and tried to smile. “It’s not as bad as it sounds, though, and I’m honestly happy with the way things are. I have my own place now, and I always have enough to make ends meet and usually a little extra, and I’m to the point now where I get pretty steady bookings for paying gigs both solo and with a couple local bands. If things get slow I pick up a few extra shifts at the music store or take a temp job like this week. It’s not like I’m a total deadbeat. I just have to be careful to keep a little back in case I hit a dry spell. I’m just saying, I know what it looks like if you don’t know me.”

“But she did know you. Luka,” Marinette sighed, taking his hand. “Of course you’re not a deadbeat. Don’t talk about yourself that way. You’re doing what you need to so that you can keep doing what you love. Not a lot of people have the courage to do what you’re doing, not only to follow your dreams but to know yourself well enough to know what you  _ don’t _ want...I think that’s amazing. And if she couldn’t see past the world’s definition of success, then she wasn’t the kind of girl you could have been happy with. I just...you’re right, she should have believed you from the beginning and not strung you along secretly hoping you would change. That’s incredibly cruel and unfair.”

Luka couldn’t find the words to answer that, so he dropped his arm down from the back of the couch to loop around Marinette’s shoulders, pulling her against him in a half hug. She understood, leaning into him and hugging him with both arms. 

“It’s getting late,” he sighed. “I should go. But...thank you, Marinette. For the encouragement, for dinner, for everything. I had a really good time.”

“Me too,” Marinette said, scooting close and snuggling up to his side. Do you have to go right now?” she asked. 

“Not  _ right _ now, no,” Luka replied, not quite as smoothly as he would have liked. 

“Can we stay like this for just a while?” she asked, sounding so much like the old Marinette that he brought his other arm up to hold her almost automatically. Marinette sighed. “I forgot how good this felt,” she mumbled. “You smell different, though. Not bad,” she added quickly. “Just different.”

Luka smiled, resting his chin on her head. “Less like the boat?”

“That’s probably it,” Marinette mused. “I probably don’t smell as much like the bakery anymore either.” She sighed. “Times have changed. We’ve changed.”

“We have, and we haven’t,” Luks said quietly. “I guess...we haven’t changed so much as grown.”

“I suppose that’s true.” Marinette made a content hum. “Keep growing, Luka,” she sighed. “But don’t ever change.”

Luka smiled and dropped a kiss in her hair before he could think about it too hard. 

Marinette, giggled, and leaned up and kissed him lightly on the lips.


	9. Letters

Luka sighed, rubbing his eyes with one hand and trying to focus on the inventory form he was filling out. His morning shift at the music store was painful after the night he’d had.

His phone sat on the desk next to him, Marinette’s message still displayed.

_ I just wanted to say I’m sorry for kissing you last night. It wasn’t fair after everything that happened. Especially after I didn’t even keep in touch before. I’m so sorry, Luka.  _

He needed to answer her. He  _ wanted _ to answer her, knew she was probably tying herself in knots waiting for him to answer. 

He just...didn’t know what to say. Because the truth was that she was right. It hadn’t been fair and he wasn’t really okay. Luka had tossed and turned all night and he was exhausted. 

Even so, he wasn’t angry with Marinette. Just...sad. Heavy. Confused.

Luka had always been the sort of person that touched a lot, so much so that he frequently had to watch himself to make sure he wasn’t being more hands on than was welcome, and since the day Marinette had fallen apart on him outside the park, he’d made a point of letting her know she was always welcome in his arms. They’d had a casually physical relationship ever since, but there were some lines that they just didn’t cross. They cuddled, they snuggled, they held hands. She kissed his cheek occasionally, but he never kissed her and she never kissed his lips. Because back then she’d been in love with someone else.

Luka had had her respect. Her confidence. Her affection. Her tears. He’d held her, just like last night. He’d given her anything she asked for, until she was strong enough to stand on her own again. He’d done it freely, knowing she couldn’t love him. He’d never regretted it. 

But Luka didn’t think he could do it again. He couldn't hold her like that, he couldn’t let her cuddle and kiss him, and keep his heart from breaking completely.

Because now that he was older, now that he had some distance, he could admit that it had hurt. That no matter how close they were, no matter how much of herself she gave him to shelter and protect, no matter how carefully he did so, he would never be first in her heart. He could acknowledge that maybe the real reason the breakup with Elaine affected him so badly was because it had opened those same scars. Once again, he hadn’t been enough.

Luka sighed, let his arms fall on the desk, and dropped his head onto them.

Even now it would take less than nothing to fall in love with Marinette again. He just—he couldn’t live in the in-between anymore. He  _ wanted _ to ask her out, to really woo her the way he’d wanted to all those years ago. But if he couldn’t have that, they were going to have to set some boundaries, because he wanted her in his life, but not at the expense of his own sanity.

He finally sat up and picked up his phone. 

_ Don’t beat yourself up about it. I’m sure I’ll be there this afternoon. I’ll save you for last again. We’ll talk. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gotta admit, reactions to the last chapter were not what I expected, so I'm interested to hear what you guys think about the next few days. Did this make sense or was it totally out of left field?
> 
> Just as a heads up so no one comes after me tomorrow, Marinette & Luka won't actually talk until Tuesday, and won't address the problem until Wednesday, because that's just how the prompts work out. So you might have to be a little patient. :D (Tuesday's is fun though, it just didn't get into the heavy stuff)


	10. Composition

Luka felt better after he’d answered her message, but he was still absent-minded and distracted for his whole shift at the music store, much to the (mostly feigned) annoyance of his coworkers. 

“Sorry,” Luka sighed for the thousandth time that morning when Jean pointed out he was restocking the bass strings on the wrong rack. 

“Man, you’re useless today,” Jean grinned, giving him a shove. “Just go play.” 

“No, seriously, I can get it together—” Luka began, but Jean just shoved him again.

“Uh-uh, I know that look, you’ve got something you need to work out. Go, get it out of your system, just make it sound good for the customers, okay?” 

Luka sighed again, but didn’t argue. He selected one of the demo instruments and found a chair. Of course the first thing that came to mind was Marinette’s melody, and he gave in to the temptation and played it, but...it wasn’t right anymore. She’d become so much more than she was, and her song needed to change too. He played the tune again, and began improvise, keeping the original melody, but working in some new flavors that felt like they fit. He added confidence and direction, and he toned down the thread of melancholy that had always been stronger in the original composition than he’d like. Luka lost himself so much in the music that he was completely unaware of the customers that stopped and stared, or the look of wonder Jean sent his way. 

His mind did feel clearer when he set the instrument down, though he couldn’t consciously say what had changed. He just felt better. Still nervous about talking to Marinette tonight, but more grounded. 

“Damn,” Jean said, shaking his head as Luka approached. “It’s been a long time since I’ve heard you play like that.”

“Play like what?” Luka asked, coming around the counter and preparing to get back to real work. 

“Like you’re in love,” Jean chuckled, and Luka looked up sharply. “Don’t get me wrong,” Jean added, seeing Luka’s look. “The way you usually play is awesome. That just had a different flavor to it. It’s nice.” 

“I just had dinner with an old friend last night, that’s all. It was good to see her,” Luka lied—or at least it felt like a lie, even though all of it was technically true.

“Well, this  _ old friend _ must be one special lady,” Jean observed with a knowing smile. 

Luka could only blush. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so today wasn't super interesting but I promise the rest of the week will make up for it. <3


	11. Cupid's Arrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh I'm exhausted, I think my little walking germ factories have been sharing again. If you've been following What the Heart Wants, sorry I'm a little behind on that one. I'll try to make up for it later.

They greeted each other with awkward smiles when she opened the door. Marinette motioned him inside, and sat down on the couch. 

Luka just looked at her for a moment. She wasn’t dressed up or anything special. Her hair was tied up messily and she was wearing jeans and a tank top under a sheer white button up blouse that had fluttery sleeves, and honestly she looked exhausted, but—she was just so beautiful. 

Luka put the flower arrangement on the coffee table and sat down next to her, but turned toward her a bit, so there was a little more distance between them. Marinette tucked a bit of hair behind her ear nervously, and as she moved her arm, color shifting under that sheer white sleeve caught his eye. Luka frowned slightly, trying to figure out what it was.

Realization hit him in an electric jolt. “Wait, is that—Marinette, do you have a tattoo?” Luka asked delightedly, awkwardness forgotten. 

“Oh,” Marinette looked at her shoulder, and then she looked up at him and smirked. “Yeah. Why, does that do something for you, Couffaine?”

“Hell yeah it does,” Luka admitted shamelessly. “Can I see?” He bit his lip. “I mean, only if it’s okay. Do you mind?”

Marinette’s shoulders shook with silent giggles, but she slipped the sheer overshirt down, letting it hang at her elbows (and honestly that alone made his pulse jump) and turned so that he could clearly see the tattoo. 

Luka bent to get a better look at it, fingers automatically coming up to rest next to it. Her signature flowers curved along her upper arm, encircling a vintage sewing machine with elegant detailing. It was delicate and feminine, and it fit her slender, toned arm beautifully, perfectly in harmony with the lines of her body and the music of her soul. Luka exhaled slowly. He wasn’t sure what it was about sweet little Marinette having a tattoo that was getting to him, but it was  _ getting  _ to him.

“It’s beautiful,” he told her, glancing up with a smile. “And it suits you. This is your artwork, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Marinette admitted. “Although the tattoo artist helped me tweak it a bit so everything worked."

“Well, they did a fantastic job,” Luka commented, taking in the linework, the delicate but saturated color, the skin breaks that let the whole piece breathe. “I’m glad you found someone quality to do the work.”

“Don’t mention this to anybody,” Marinette said, sounding embarrassed. “But it was a gift from Jagged for my eighteenth. Once I designed the artwork, he took me to his personal artist and  _ loomed _ the entire time.” She rolled her eyes. “Not many people know that, though, I don’t want it to get around. I mean, I don’t care who knows about the tattoo, but the Jagged part.”

Luka nodded understanding. Jagged loved Marinette like a niece, and Marinette was fiercely loyal to him in return, very careful not to trade on that relationship beyond the reasonable endorsement that came with working for him. 

“Don’t worry,” Luka smiled, straightening. “I’m good at keeping secrets.” 

Marinette giggled, slipping her shirt back up over her shoulders. “I’m surprised you don’t have any.”

Luka grinned. “Secrets or tattoos?” 

“Both.” Marinette arched her eyebrows.

“Oh, I do,” Luka chuckled, and laughed when Marinette blushed. Everything was just so easy with her, like it always had been, he couldn’t help thinking, and that was what was going to make this conversation hard.

“Well, I showed you mine,” Marinette pouted. “Aren’t you going to show me yours?”

Luka’s smile was crooked. “Some other time, Marinette. Not tonight, okay?” 

Marinette shifted, tucking her feet up under her and grabbing a throw pillow to squeeze. “Right. Sorry.”


	12. Proposal

“You look tired,” Luka said sympathetically, leaning his elbow on the back of the couch.

“Gee, thanks,” Marinette gave him a lopsided smile.

“You know what I mean,” he said, “I always think you look great, but I can still tell when you’re overworking.”

“Like I told you last night, I’ve got a lot to do,” Marinette shrugged, flopping back. “Life’s a little crazy right now and Adrien’s not making it any easier, calling and trying to convince me to go out with him for Valentine’s Day. I wouldn’t mind going as a friend and he swears he’s fine with that, but I don’t believe him. Even if I told him to keep it simple...I just don’t think I can put him through that when I know he’s not who I want.” She dropped her chin on the throw pillow she was hugging and looked up at him. “And I maybe stayed awake last night freaking out over kissing you and how you left so quickly after.”

“Let that go,” Luka sighed, putting his hand on her shoulder. “You’re right, it wasn’t a great thing to do and I’d rather it not happen again—not like that at least. I mean—” He withdrew his hand, running it through his hair as Marinette raised her head and gave him a wide-eyed look. 

“About Adrien,” Luka said quickly, “I almost hate to suggest this but—tell him you have a date with someone else,” Luka shrugged. 

“I can’t lie to him,” Marinette mumbled, face still buried in her arms.

“Well—” He took one long, thoughtful breath, and took the plunge. “It wouldn’t be a lie if you had a date with me.” 

Marinette raised her face to stare at him. Luka looked away, took one more breath, and then looked her right in the eye. “Will you go out with me on Valentine’s Day, Marinette?” 

Marinette blinked for a moment. “Like...like a fake date?” 

Luka felt the heat rising to his face. “No, like...a real date.” He cleared his throat.“You know I’ve always cared for you, Marinette,” Luka said, offering her his hand. She put her hand into it almost absently, her eyes still on his face. “Seeing you again,” Luka went on, “It’s like hearing a remix of a favorite song you haven’t played in years. All the things I liked originally, but I’m appreciating you in a new way too.” He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand. “So, yeah, I’d love to take you out if you’d be willing. I wasn’t going to do it on Valentine’s, I always think Valentine’s Day is a horrible time to have a first date. Too much pressure, you know? But we can keep it low key, light and fun and…” he shrugged. “Whatever you want, Marinette. If it gets Adrien off your back, that’s just a bonus. But...I want it to be real. I can’t…” Luka paused and sighed, trying to gather his thoughts. Marinette squeezed his hand lightly, patiently waiting.

“I don’t want you to misunderstand me,” he said finally. “Marinette, I treasured what we had when we were kids, truly. I still do. I’ll always feel honored that you trusted me. I still care deeply for you. And I’m not saying any of this to make you feel badly about last night—“

“I should feel bad about last night,” Marinette interrupted softly, taking her hand back. “You opened up to me and shared something hard for you. You were vulnerable, and I was selfish, and I’m so, so sorry. Just because you’ve always let me be selfish in the past doesn’t make it okay.” 

Luka accepted that with a slight nod. “I just need us to be one or the other this time,” he said as evenly as he could. “I’d like to take you out, see how it goes, see if that spark we used to have is still there. I’d like to give us a real try now that—now that there aren’t so many other factors. If that’s not what you want, I can be your friend. I’d love to be your friend. But I can’t be the guy you call to cuddle and make out with when you’re lonely. I just can’t. I can’t go back to the way things were before, where we were more than friends but less than...anything else.”

“I understand.” Marinette said, looking down. “I wouldn’t ask you to. I feel the same way you do. I don’t want to do the in-between thing again either.” She sighed. “You can say it was okay but...I understand some things better now and I know it must have been difficult for you. Maybe if I hadn’t had feelings for you we would have settled into something we could both look back on fondly—but I did and I’m sure you could tell, and you don’t have to say anything at all, but I want you to know that I realize now what a sacrifice you made for me, letting me use you the way I did.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked away for a moment with a sigh, before forcing her gaze back to his. “And how awful it was of me not to even keep in touch afterward. Honestly, Luka, I don’t know if I could have gotten through that time without you, and I have no excuses for letting us drift apart after all you did for me.”

“It hurt,” Luka admitted. “I mean I know you were busy, but…” He shrugged and looked down, fingers tapping on his knee. “I honestly thought I meant more than that to you.” 

Marinette hunched in on herself, fingers digging into her own arms. “You did. You really did and it was wrong of me to treat you the way I did. I could give you a bunch of reasons why, but...honestly I was just being selfish again. I was trying to move on from that part of my life, to get a clean start, but that didn’t have to mean leaving you behind, it  _ shouldn’t _ have meant leaving you behind even though my feelings about you were so tangled up and—and the reason really doesn’t matter anyway. There’s no excuse good enough.” She sighed again, putting her face in her hands. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry, Luka.” 

Luka put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “I promised you whatever you needed. If that meant space, you could have told me. But that’s all in the past, so let’s just leave it there, okay?” Really, he was proud of her, for looking back on the whole thing so sensibly.

Marinette's next few breaths were shaky but she smiled, letting her hands come down. “Thank you, for being honest with me, and not just letting me off the hook. I never wanted to hurt you but I know I did and you deserved a proper apology. I’m glad I finally got the chance to give you one after all this time. Even though I knew you would forgive me.” She wrinkled her nose at him and he grinned.

“I do.” Luka told her, squeezing her shoulder again before letting his hand fall. “Feelings are complicated and I get that. I never wanted to be something on your worry list, and I wish you had told me what was going on, but like I said, it’s in the past. I’m more concerned about where we go from here.”

“You were always special to me, even when I was blinded by Adrien, but now, I…” She blushed and cut herself off, though Luka was hanging on every word. “Anyway, yes.”

“Sorry?” Luka frowned, backtracking the conversation in his mind.

Marinette giggled. “I’d love to go out with you on Valentine’s Day. Not just as friends. In an absolutely real, definitely into you sort of way.” Her blue eyes flicked to his and away, but then came back, sparkling with all her newfound confidence and a playfulness that made it hard for him to breathe. “A low-key, low-pressure Valentine’s date sounds fantastic to me. I’d really like to see how things go too. Is that, um...” she tilted her head and smiled at him. “Is that clear enough?”

“Oh,” Luka suddenly felt stupid, elated, and nervous as hell all at once. “Uh, yeah. So, okay then. Let’s do it. Umm, I’m working part of the day, but—I’ll text you and we can figure out exactly when and what?” 

Marinette nodded, smiling and blushing in a way that was very reminiscent of her younger self, and for a moment Luka didn’t move, reflecting on how she had somehow become a thousand times more attractive without losing that endearing sweetness.

He didn’t know what kind of face he was making, but she was growing steadily pinker by the moment, so he snapped out of it as best he could, standing up from the couch. “Okay, well, I better go, but...yeah, I got nothing cool here, sorry.” 

“It’s okay,” Marinette giggled, hugging her cushion. “I’m probably going to scream into my pillow for a while after you leave anyway.” He could see the colors of her tattoo where her sleeve pulled tight over it.

_ Definitely into you.  _

Oh God, she was going to kill him. “Bye,” he managed, and fled out of the door. He closed it and leaned against it with a sigh, and then grinned like an idiot at the muffled scream he heard a moment later.

Luka put one hand over his pounding heart. He wasn’t sure if this was the best thing that ever happened to him or the worst decision he’d ever made but...he was really kind of excited to find out.

Because at least this tile he could try. The cards were all on the table and there would be no more tiptoeing around. He may not have much to offer but at least this time he  _ could _ offer. 

“One step at a time, Couffaine,” he muttered to himself, and took one more deep breath before making his way a little shakily down the stairs.


	13. Kisses

Clearing the air did wonders for Luka. The weight that had settled in his chest after she kissed him had lightened considerably after their talk, and it was getting even lighter by the day. He and Marinette texted even more over the following week, sometimes about their date on Friday, and sometimes just making conversation about how their days were going. His apprehension was melting into anticipation as they firmed up plans and passed flirty messages back and forth. 

Teasing Marinette had always been fun but it was a lot more exciting these days. Even when she was a flustered mess, she held her own, flirting back and teasing him in her turn. Not to mention he’d lost count of how many times he’d caught himself staring at the entirely appropriate yet extremely appealing selfie she’d sent him displaying her arm tattoo, wearing a grin Juleka would have felt compelled to slap off him if she had seen it. He’d debated sending her a picture of his own ink but ultimately decided that he’d rather see her reaction in person.

Luka hardly even noticed what he was delivering over the next few days, just happy to see Marinette and banter in person for a few minutes before he had to go. To Adrien’s credit the gifts were getting less expensive and more personal, but Marinette remained adamant in her decision. Luka found this reassuring, which made him feel a little guilty, because it meant he was still doubting her at least a little. 

“Oh,” Marinette’s eyes softened as she looked at the gift included with Thursday’s flowers, which was actually a picture album with photos of her and Adrien over the years. “That’s sweet.” She sighed and shook her head, looking sad for a moment in a way that hurt Luka’s heart. Then she shook it off and closed the album. “Can you come in for just a minute?” she asked Luka. “I want to talk to you about something real quick.”

“Sure,” Luka raised his eyebrows and stepped inside as she moved back to make room for him. She closed the door, put the album and the flowers on the table next to it, and faced him, blowing out a little breath as she rubbed her hands on her pants. 

Luka eyebrows went a little higher. “You’re looking like this is kinda serious.” 

“Not serious, exactly, just…” Marinette blushed. “Maybe a little scary. Not like, scary-scary, but nerve-wracking, you know, even though it’s you and I don’t usually feel—” 

“Marinette,” Luka interrupted her gently, glancing at the time. “I don’t mean to rush you, but I do have to finish these deliveries sometime today.”

“Then stop interrupting me,” Marinette scolded, and then she squared her shoulders and did that little breath thing again. “Luka,” Marinette said, and something in her tone gave him pause, like she was steeling herself for something. She opened her mouth, then closed it, and frowned. “Hang on.” She walked away from him abruptly, and he raised his eyebrows again, but waited until she returned with a small stool in her hands. She put it down in front of him and then stepped up on it, so that she was suddenly eye-to-eye with him, and much closer than he expected. He would have backed up a step if she hadn’t taken his hand.

“Luka,” she began again, “I’ve been thinking about what you said. I know I wasn’t always clear about my feelings in the past, and—” she hesitated for just a moment, eyes searching him. “I just want to make sure you know exactly where I stand this time. I’m  _ really _ looking forward to tomorrow, and I don’t want it spoiled by any doubts. So just know that I fully intend to have a good time, and you can hold my hand or put your arm around me or kiss me anytime it feels right to you.” 

Luka’s brain abruptly short-circuited. 

“I know we agreed to keep things light tomorrow,” Marinette continued, “And I really think that’s a great idea, and I don’t want it to be spoiled by too much tension so...If it’s okay with you, I was kind of hoping maybe I can kiss you now and just...kind of get that first time out of the way so we don’t have to feel pressured about our first kiss being a big moment and we’re not thinking about it all day tomorrow?” 

An awful lot of thoughts were racing through his mind but only one made it to his mouth. Luka grinned slowly. “You’d be thinking about it all day?”

Her cheeks pinked, but she raised a challenging eyebrow. “Wouldn’t you?”

“I’ve been thinking about it for years,” he told her, quietly serious despite the smile on his face. 

Marinette’s face went from pink to red. “So, would you be disappointed if we kissed now?”

Luka laughed. “You really think I’m going to go home tonight not having kissed you and knowing that I could have?” He shook his head. “I don’t need a big moment, if that’s what you’re asking. The best moment is always the one you’re in.”

Marinette smiled. “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. So it’s a good plan?”

“Your plans always are,” he chuckled. 

“So are you going to let me kiss you or not?” she demanded, catching his other hand and tugging both lightly to move him closer.

“Maybe I’d rather kiss you,” he shot back. 

Marinette’s smile turned into that deadly smirk he loved so much as she let go of his hands to lace hers behind his neck as his settled on her waist. “Well, pick your poison, Couffaine.”

Luka kissed her, both because he really had wanted it that long and because the way things had been going, he wasn’t entirely he would survive her kissing him and he didn’t want to miss out on their plans. He’d always thought she had the most perfect lips, pink and plush and pouty, and he was not disappointed, they felt amazing against his. Luka had intended to kiss her softly and tenderly, the first kiss he had intended to give her all those years ago. 

But Marinette back then wouldn’t have arched up into him, sliding her fingers into his hair and moving along with him. He’d always imagined her to be shy and hesitant, not bold and wanting. Wanting _ him _ . And it felt  _ so _ good. His hands slid from her waist to her back and the toes of his boots hit the bottom of her stool as he tried to get closer. Marinette drew back enough to nip his lip lightly and he gasped, and then it was all he could do just to hold on while she kissed the hell out of him. When she finally broke the kiss he was shaking.

“God, Marinette, go easy on me,” he told her breathlessly. “I want to be alive to take you out tomorrow.” 

She smirked, but her voice was as breathless as his. “No promises. I think you can take it.” Marinette studied him, an affectionate smile on her lips that turned a little wicked the longer she looked at him. “Not what you expected?” 

“You never are,” he chuckled, shaking his head slightly. “Never predictable.” He sighed, leaning his forehead against hers. “Always amazing.” He actually felt the heat of her blush against his own skin and smiled. Then he straightened and drew back a little. Marinette’s teasing smile faltered as he looked at her seriously. “You know you don’t have to prove to me that you’re a grownup now,” he told her. “Believe me, I’ve noticed.” 

Marinette cocked her head and looked at him for a moment, forehead creased slightly, and then her eyes widened. “Am I going too fast?” 

“No,” Luka said quickly, and then reconsidered. “Well...I don’t know. Maybe? That was a hell of a first kiss, Marinette.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, I’m not normally...I don’t…” he made a frustrated noise. “I don’t know how to say what I want to say.”

Marinette took a deep breath and sighed it out through her nose, obviously gathering her thoughts. Her fingers played idly with the hair at the back of his neck as she put her words together.

“Back when we first met…” she began slowly, “It wasn’t the right time for us then, but that wasn’t because we didn’t have feelings...it wasn’t because I didn’t care about you that way. I had my Adrien obsession and there were so many things happening just then. I needed you too much as a friend to let it become anything more and you were okay with that. So I kind of feel like we just...put things on pause.” She chewed her lip for a moment, searching his face to see if he understood. When he nodded slightly, she continued. “And…when we reconnected, after those first few days, after we sort of figured out that deep down we’re still the same people…” She shrugged slightly. “It feels totally natural to me to just pick things up where we left off. All those months of getting to know each other and getting close, they still count. I’m comfortable with you in a way I wouldn’t be with someone I just met. So...I feel okay with the way things are going. But if I’m pushing you, if it feels too fast for you—“

Luka shook his head quickly. “It’s not that. I mean, you did kind of knock me on my ass the first few days with all the flirting and teasing and I’m still a little overwhelmed, but…I feel the same way. About us being the same people. Now that we’re both clear on where we stand and what we want, I’m mostly okay with picking up where we left off. It just...felt like we skipped a few steps just now, if you catch my drift. I just might...need a moment to breathe here and there, okay? And...” He shrugged slightly, feeling a bit foolish. “I honestly kinda like taking things slow. I just don’t want you to think you have anything to prove to me because you don’t. I see you.” 

Marinette smiled, and leaned into him, wrapping her arms around him in a warm hug. “You always have.” She sighed. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I feel like you’re a little careful with me and maybe when you kissed me so gently I did want to make sure you weren’t seeing me as that little girl you knew. I’m not delicate, you don’t have to coddle me.” 

“Marinette,” Luka sighed, returning her embrace just as tightly, “Don’t think of it that way. I’m not coddling, I’m savoring.” He nudged her cheek with his nose teasingly. “I waited a long time for this, I’m not missing out just because you’re impatient.” 

Marinette giggled and pulled back to look at him. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” he agreed, bumping his forehead against hers. “And now I really have to go.” 

Mischief twinkled in her eyes. “Nobody’s stopping you.”

“Mm-hmm,” he said, tapping her arm lightly where it was still wrapped around his neck. Marinette just smirked. Luka rolled his eyes, kissed her nose, and then ducked out of the circle of her arms, backing toward the door. “See you tomorrow, Marinette.”

“Bye Luka,” she waved, and he let himself out, grinning like an idiot.

There was a crash just as he shut the door. Luka opened it again and looked back in. “Marinette?”

“I’m fine,” she said quickly, wincing as she sat up from where she’d been crumpled on the floor.

Luka chuckled. “Did you forget you were on the stool?” 

He shut the door just in time for the pincushion Marinette threw at him to bounce off of it instead of his head.

Luka laughed as he went down the stairs. He couldn’t wait until tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda wish this prompt had fallen at a different place, but I hope I made it fit. Sort of. Honestly if I had time I might have put a couple of extras in between to show a bit more of that first paragraph instead of infodumping, but hopefully it's not too jarring.


	14. Valentine's Day

Luka woke up the morning of Valentine’s Day to a text full of all caps and emojis telling him how excited Marinette was for the day. He sat there in bed grinning like an idiot, and as he scrolled back through their messages over the past week he admitted to himself that he was absolutely screwed. He’d been stupid in love the first time while she was trying her hardest  _ not _ to lead him on. Now that she was actively pursuing him—and he couldn’t doubt as he looked through their messages from the last week that that was exactly what was going on—he was doomed. 

His eyes glazed over for a moment as he remembered kissing her yesterday, and the promise that he had her permission to kiss and hold her today. 

Yep. Totally screwed. He folded his legs up and put his head on his knees, covering his head with his arms and resisting the urge to either scream or laugh hysterically at the insanity that was his life. 

Fuck it, it was Valentine’s Day in Paris and he had a date with Marinette Dupain-Cheng and his insecurities could suck it for one damn day. He was going to focus on the moment and not overthink it. Luka whooped as he threw himself out of bed and went to get ready. 

Unfortunately, he had to work in the morning, but it was deliveries and not the music store, which at least freed him from having to sit still and gave him time to daydream. Only the knowledge that he had a gig in the evening and needed to save his voice kept him from blasting the radio and belting at full volume. 

She was waiting for him at the cafe where they’d agreed to meet for lunch, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet until she spotted him. 

They teased and joked and stole food from each other’s plates, and shared a strawberry dessert covered in whipped cream. Marinette reached over with a dollop of whipped cream on her finger, intent on smearing some on his nose and then shrieked and laughed when he caught her hand and licked it off instead. They fell against each other, giggling uncontrollably, and Luka tilted his head and shyly kissed her jaw. Marinette just giggled and nuzzled his cheek and his grin really couldn’t get any wider. 

They went to the movies from there, fingers tangled casually together as they walked past the lines of couples waiting to see the horror movies and romcoms. They watched an action film with lots of jokes and explosions and very little kissing—at least on screen. Luka was still chuckling at the hero’s last one-liner when Marinette put her hand on his cheek, turned his face toward her and kissed him firmly on the mouth. She pulled away, giggling at his stunned expression, and cuddled into his side. Luka put his arm around her automatically, and got revenge by tickling her side when she giggled at the dopey (some might say lovestruck) grin on his face.

She spent the rest of the movie teasing him mercilessly with small touches, running her fingers along the inside of his palm and wrist and forearm, putting her head on his shoulder and stroking lightly just above his collar, reaching up idly to play with the hair at his temple and the nape of his neck. Luka had no idea how the movie ended and Marinette was smirking as they left the theater. 

“Come here, you little minx,” he muttered, the moment they found a corner with any semblance of privacy. He caught her around the waist, pulled her to him, and peppered her face with kisses as she laughed, until he was laughing too. 

How had he forgotten it could be like this? Easy, fun, light, playful, full of affection? 

_ You can be yourself with me, you know. Just yourself. _

She hadn’t said it, but then she didn’t need to. He felt it. In that moment, he understood better than he ever had what those words had meant to Marinette back then. Luka rested his forehead on Marinette’s, stroking his hand lightly down her cheek, caressing it with his thumb. She nudged her nose against his, his hand slipped down to angle her face, and their lips slid together effortlessly, softly, once and twice and again and again, until they could hardly kiss for smiling. 

“I better get you home,” he sighed reluctantly, straightening. “I’m due for setup and sound check sooner than I’d like.” 

“About that,” Marinette said, not moving away. “How mad would they be if I came with you? Is that like, super frowned upon?” 

Luka blinked in surprise, and then smiled. “No, I’m pretty tight with the owner for this one, it wouldn’t be a big deal. I thought you were just going to meet me there for the gig though.”

Marinette shrugged. “I was, and I can still do that if you’d rather. Or we can swing by my place and I can pick up my things, and go back to your place. That way we can still hang out while we get ready, and we can go to your gig together and...but it does sound like an awful lot I guess, if you’d rather not, that’s okay. I don’t want to throw off your pre-show ritual—”

“You won’t,” Luka said quickly. 

“Or for you to get tired of me—”

“I won’t,” he chuckled. “No, that sounds good, let’s do it. If you’re really sure.” 

She smiled brilliantly and hugged him. “I’m sure. Let’s go. We can just walk, it’s not far.” 

Luka grinned and caught her hand, tangling their fingers together as they headed back to her apartment. 

He was a little more nervous once they were back in his van driving toward his. It was clean, at least, and he didn’t think he’d left anything embarrassing laying about, but it was— 

“I should probably warn you, my place isn’t very big,” Luka said hesitantly. “It’s—it’s really small, actually, um…” 

He felt Marinette’s hand over his on the gearshift. “It’s fine, Luka. It’s yours. It should be yours. As long as it’s what you need, it’s enough.” 

Luka smiled ruefully and sighed through his nose. “Sorry,” he muttered. 

“It’s okay. You’ve always let me be myself. I want you to be yourself too.” 

“I know,” he said, smiling as she echoed his earlier thoughts, turning his hand over to take hers and squeeze it. “I do.” 

“And it’s not too late to take me back if you’re not comfortable with this,” Marinette reminded him. “I didn’t mean to just invite myself into your home.”

“Yes, you did,” Luka smiled. “Because you always have. You know you’ve always been welcome. I don’t mind, truly, it’s just...scars. That’s all it is. They’ll fade.”

“It’s nice,” Marinette said brightly when he finally let her in to his little studio apartment. 

“I told you it was small,” Luka said, rubbing the back of his neck. “But you know I’m used to living in a small space, so it doesn’t bother me. I open the balcony doors,” he gestured to the tiny balcony, “And let the air in, and—well, it’s not the boat, to be honest, and there’s things I miss. But I don’t constantly smell like diesel anymore and I don’t have to worry about running out of fresh water in the middle of a shower.” 

Marinette giggled. “Really?”

Luka shrugged. “Can’t hook the boat up to city pipes, so we’ve gotta fill the freshwater tanks regularly, and I probably don’t have to tell you my mom isn’t big on doing anything on a schedule, so it happened sometimes.”

“Wow,” Marinette cringed. 

“Make yourself at home,” Luka said, waving her inside. It really wasn’t much, but it was organized, equipment and CDs stacked and shelved carefully. The experience of growing up with his mother’s philosophy of mess had combined with his tiny living quarters and his natural aversion to disharmony in any form to mould him into a very clean, organized person when left to his own devices. 

Marinette paused to smile at some pictures on the wall; one of the Liberty, one of his family, his favorite of Juleka’s modeling shots, and—Marinette gasped. “I can’t believe you still have that!” she giggled, touching the picture of Kitty Section, all posing in costume, except that Luka had pulled Marinette down to sit across his knee, one arm behind her back as he made his claws with the other, though he’d forgotten his mask was still pushed up on his forehead so you could see his happy smile. Marinette herself was blushing, mid-giggle, and flashing a shy victory sign at the camera.

“We had a lot of fun back then,” Luka smiled. Plus it was the only picture of Marinette he could justify keeping around. That gave him a thought and he grinned. “But you know you I could use something more recent. Come here,” he said, sliding open the balcony door. Marinette came to him and he pulled her close to his side, leaning down so his face was beside hers. He held up his phone and she giggled, leaning into him and smiling up to the camera. They took a few, and for the last one, Marinette surprised him with a kiss on the cheek. Luka grinned, turning his face to her, and pulled her in, kissing her lips lightly at first as he put his phone in his pocket, and then he couldn’t stop, not when she responded so sweetly, pulling him in, stroking his face and neck as he kissed her again and again. A car horn from the street made them jump. 

“Sorry,” Luka said roughly, nudging her back inside. “We’re supposed to be getting ready and here I am kissing you in front of all of Paris.” He cleared his throat. “My bathroom’s kind of tiny, but—” 

“It’s fine, I’m tiny too, as you’re fond of reminding me.” Marinette shoved him lightly, and then popped up on her toes to kiss his jaw. Luka restrained himself with effort from bending down to kiss her again. 

It was  _ amazing  _ for reasons he couldn’t fully articulate, sharing space with her as they got ready, moving around one another, full of moments of casual intimacy like reaching around her as she did her makeup to grab his own eyeliner. Since he was a full head taller than her they both managed to find space in the mirror, and if it meant they were pressed a little close in the small space, neither of them minded. 

Marinette glanced at him in the mirror as she capped her mascara, blinking those long lashes at him. “So when am I going to get to see your tattoo?” 

“I feel like you’re expecting something scandalous,” Luka chuckled. “Now I’m afraid of disappointing you.”

“You’re a tease,” Marinette told him matter-of-factly, eyeing the arms his black tank left bare before turning back to the mirror to apply her lipstick.

“Look who’s talking,” Luka chuckled, straightening as he finished his eyes. He was keeping it light on the stage makeup today, applying just enough to keep him from looking washed out under the lights, going more for laid-back rocker than full-on punk.

Marinette turned around and grabbed his collar, pulling him down toward her. “Don’t tempt me, Couffaine. I haven’t even started to play with you.” She kissed him low on his neck, right where it met his shoulder, and left a perfect lip print behind as she swept out of the bathroom.

Luka stood there in shock for a moment, and then put his head on his arms on the bathroom counter and whined softly. 

Once he recovered, he quickly finished his makeup, fluffed up his hair, and followed Marinette into his living room. He grabbed his leather jacket and guitar, she grabbed her purse, and they grabbed each other's hands. The club wasn’t far so they took the metro instead of driving.

Even having Marinette there with him for sound check affected Luka on some deep level. It seemed like such a little thing, since she just sat quietly out of the way, making cheerful conversation when anyone stopped to talk to her but otherwise just happy to be there with him while he did his thing. It felt like a long time since anyone had been willing to hang around like that just for the pleasure of being near him and it gave him a warm feeling in his entire body.

Luka was a good performer, which generally being at least a passable actor, but he went through his sappier-than-usual set (because it was Valentine’s Day after all) with extra warmth, knowing there was someone in that crowd just for him. 

As soon as his set was over and he got his equipment stowed, he went to find Marinette and staggered as she leapt into him, squealing about how how well he’d done. It was the first time she’d seen him perform in years and she was  _ so impressed, Luka _ ! Grinning like a fool, he took a swig of the drink she handed him and pulled her up to dance with him, with hilarious results. Marinette somehow managed to be simultaneously an amazing and a terrible dancer. She was strong and flexible but she could only seem to keep her body moving in a coordinated way for short periods of time before it went crazy on her. Luka quickly learned to recognize when she was starting to fall apart and intervene, swinging her into a move with him or finding other ways to distract her before she did any damage to herself or the people around her.

When they finally made it back to Luka’s apartment, both of them a little more buzzed than they’d planned to be, they agreed neither of them was in any shape to drive. After a short, halfhearted argument about who would take the couch, Luka found some of his old clothes for her to wear and they tumbled into his bed together, still laughing at nothing, and fell asleep in an undignified heap of limbs.


	15. Satisfied

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's an appropriate prompt today because you thirsty-for-Luka's-tattoo people will finally get satisfied. 
> 
> Also, totally unrelated, but all the Lukanette stans should go check out the stories in the [Lovebugs and Snake Charmers](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Lovebugs%20and%20Snake%20Charmers) collection that got revealed yesterday, there's so much good stuff there. Go and tell all those authors how awesome they are.

He’d forgotten what it was like to wake up with a hangover and a mouthful of someone else’s hair. Luka groaned softly and rolled onto his back, clawing Marinette’s hair away from his face, and grinned at the ceiling despite his pounding head. His arm was wedged under Marinette, so he made no further attempt to move, just lay there enjoying the dark and quiet. 

There was a  _ vrrrrmmm, vrrrmmm _ sound and he glanced over to see Marinette’s phone vibrating. He sighed and rolled toward her again, stroking her face lightly with the back of his hand. “Marinette,” he called softly, and then squeezed her shoulder and shook it lightly.

Marinette made a noise somewhere between a growl and a groan. 

“I know,” Luka said, dropping a kiss on her shoulder. “But your phone’s ringing.” 

“Stupid phone,” she grumbled, reaching for it. As she answered Luka gently extracted his arm from underneath her, flexing it to get the feeling back.

“I’m still at Luka’s,” he heard Marinette say, and then she winced. “Not so loud, Alya, my head’s killing me. No, it wasn’t like that, nothing happened. We both just had a little too much to drink and I was too tired to go home so I crashed here.” She rolled her eyes, and then squeezed them shut. “Yes, on Luka. He’s very comfy.” She opened one eye to grin at him. Luka blushed, ruffling his hair, and then got out of bed, figuring he shouldn’t be listening. 

He used the bathroom, washed his face with cold water to clear some of the bleariness out of his eyes, and brushed his teeth to get rid of the stale taste in his mouth. Then he went to his small kitchen, mentally taking stock as he moved. As hangovers go, this one wasn’t awful. The room had a tendency to spin every now and then but the headache was the worst part. He got some painkillers and two glasses of water. He brought one set back to Marinette, who was still on the phone. She took the pills and swallowed them quickly and drained the water glass, still arguing with Alya over something. Luka sat down on the bed beside her and just looked at her for a moment, looked at her smudged makeup and bed head and his wrinkled shirt hanging off her shoulders. He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her into him. She sighed and laid her head down on his shoulder. “Alyyyyaaa,” she whined, bringing her free hand up to rub her temple.

Luka wrapped his hand around her phone, and Marinette let him slide it from her fingers. He brought it up to his own ear. “Alya,” he said, aware his voice was still husky and deep from sleep, and a little rough from performing. Alya stopped talking, presumably in surprise. “Marinette has to go now. She’ll call you back later.” 

“Damn, Couffaine,” Alya muttered.

“Bye Alya,” Luka smirked, and hung up. He set Marinette’s phone back on his nightstand as she giggled.

“You just got me in so much trouble,” Marinette laughed. “Did you have to use your sex voice?”

“You don’t know what my sex voice sounds like,” he chuckled, lifting her hand to place a lingering kiss on the inside of her wrist. 

“If it’s hotter than your hangover voice, I’m in trouble,” Marinette muttered, and Luka felt a thrill that he didn’t dare dwell on too much as he slid his lips a little lower to lay another kiss. “Alya’s going to grill me for details now.” 

“Well,” he said slowly, enjoying the way she shivered at the sound of his voice. “You could always tell her how you tried to lick my tonsils two days ago.” 

“Luka!” Marinette shrieked, making both of them wince as she jerked her hand away.

“No?” Luka chuckled, despite the pain in his head. “I’d better give you something else to talk about then.” He moved to kiss her but she turned her face away.

“Luka, I’m gross, at least let me go brush my teeth,” she complained. 

“I don’t care,” he said, dropping his mouth to her neck to plant several soft open kisses on sensitive places. Marinette hummed and squirmed but still pushed against him, so he let her slide out of his arms with a sigh. 

“I’ll be right back,” she promised, kissing his cheek. 

“There should be some extra toothbrushes and whatever in the drawer under the sink, take whatever you need,” he told her, and then shifted to lay back on the bed so he wouldn’t watch her walk away. He flopped onto his stomach and closed his eyes, noting that his headache was receding, though he still felt a little light-headed. 

He must have dozed off, because he started awake at the slide of Marinette’s hand up his back. Luka realized his shirt had ridden up and she was pushing it higher. He chuckled. “Found it, huh?” 

“I want to see,” Marinette poked him in the ribs and he flinched. 

“All right, all right,” he mumbled, and pushed himself up to a sitting position, pulling the shirt up and over his head to give her a clear view of his back. He glanced back at her over his shoulder, which proved to be a mistake as the expression on her face was sure to haunt his dreams for weeks. “See something you like?” he teased, though his face heated. 

“Several things,” she agreed, and then her cool fingers touched below the middle of his back, where the black and grey coils of the cobra began. She traced lightly up his spine where the snake’s body rose up to the hood spread between his shoulder blades. “He looks like he’s laughing,” she giggled. “Usually snakes in tattoos look so mean.”

“I think the artist thought I was crazy when I said I wanted something different,” Luka admitted, “But he did a good job.” The snake’s mouth was slightly parted, just enough to show the forked tongue and the hint of fangs, and the artist had managed to capture the expression of indulgent amusement Luka had described. It was exactly the expression Sass used to give him, though the image on his back had an aura of power that the Sass was a bit too cute to pull off...unless you knew him as Luka did. The little kwami might look like a child’s toy but he was also an ancient being in command of immense power. All in all, Luka had been satisfied with the tribute to his old friend.

“It’s not really finished,” Luka said when Marinette didn’t speak. “I want to add to it sometime when I can afford to.” 

“I can see that,” Marinette replied thoughtfully, tracing an arc on one side of his back. “Something to frame it in.” 

Like flowers, Luka thought before he could stop himself, but then he turned around and laid back on his back on the bed, beckoning Marinette with one hand. She came and stretched out beside him, cuddled up to his side and rested her head on his shoulder. He slipped his arm under and around her and she adjusted to move even closer. 

“Sorry for drinking so much last night,” Marinette sighed. “I didn’t mean to stay here.”

“It’s fine. We were just having fun and we went a little overboard. I’d rather have you here and know you’re safe.” He squeezed her lightly. “The snuggles are a nice bonus.”

“Mm,” she agreed, nuzzling into his neck.

“Do you have anywhere you have to be today?” Luka asked.

“Eventually. Not anytime soon.”

“I was thinking we could go grab breakfast once we’re ready to get up. If you want to.”

“Sure, once I can move without feeling like my head’s going to split open.” 

Luka took a deep breath and sighed it out slowly, considering what he wanted to say next. 

Marinette day up to look in his face. “What?” 

“Nothing, I just—hang on, I think I’d rather have this conversation sitting up.” Luka levered himself up and shifted so that he was facing Marinette, a little distance between them. She sat up as well, moving slowly and frowning slightly.

“I think—I hate to ruin the moment, I just, I need some clarity,” he sighed. “Yesterday was—“ Luka shook his head. “It was wonderful. It was fun and easy and—I had a really good time. I know neither of us planned on you staying here, but waking up with you was nice too. I’d really like to go out with you again. I’d like a lot more than that, to be honest, but for now—I just need to know if we’re still on the same page here.”

Marinette hesitated, and Luka’s heart sank into his stomach. He reached over to pick up his glass from the nightstand and took a sip of his water so he could swallow the sudden lump in his throat.

“Luka, it’s…it’s not that I don’t want to, but...” She sighed. “I want to be honest with you about this. I know we talked a little bit about my work schedule but I want you to really understand—it’s a really bad time for me to be starting a new relationship. I’ve got a huge transition ahead of me and it includes a travel schedule that’s frankly insane, and that’s hard enough on an established relationship, let alone a new one.”

“Of course,” Luka said, preparing his brave face. “I get that.”

“I mean there’s FaceTime and of course I’d call as much as I could, and you’d be top on my priority list whenever I had free time, but it still wouldn’t be much—“ Luka nodded, wishing she would just get it over with. 

“Could you…” Marinette hesitated. “Could you be satisfied with a relationship like that, Luka? If...if I wanted to try? Because...because you’re right, about everything, and I had so much fun yesterday and it was so easy and—I really want to see where this goes. But I don’t...I know I promised not to rush you, but honestly I don’t want to mess around dating a whole bunch of people. I’m not going to have time for that anyway. I’d rather put what little I have to give into this. Can you be okay with that? With just me, even if I can’t give as much of me as I’d like to?”

That caught his full attention. “Yes,” he breathed, setting the glass down quickly and taking her hands. “Yes, Marinette, If you’re willing to try, I am too. I—“ he bit his lip, and looked away, and back to her. “Marinette, if there’s even the slightest chance that you could feel for me what I feel for you, then I’ll do whatever it takes. Just tell me what you want and I’m there. I don’t need anybody else, I just want you.”

Marinette’s eyes grew round, and her lower lip trembled. “F-feel?” she whispered. “N-not...not felt? Or…”

Luka pressed her hands to his chest and covered them with one of his, and slipped the other hand behind her neck, thumb caressing her cheek. “Feel. Absolutely. I don’t know what it is about you Marinette—I don’t really even believe in soulmates or destiny or whatever, but something about you just—I don’t know, I’m sorry, I’m so bad at this, at knowing how much to say and what’s too much, but I felt it when we first met and I felt it again when you opened that door for the first time the other day, like some piece of me that doesn’t answer to logic just  _ knows _ that I will never meet anyone else like you.” He hesitated, searching her eyes. “Too much? Am I scaring you off?”

“No,” Marinette breathed, voice shaky and more air than sound, eyes fixed on him. “Keep going.”

Luka took a deep breath and did, though his hand shook even as he continued to caress her. “Marinette, I’ve always known you were special, and every moment I spend with you just proves it more and more. I don’t care if it’s hard, I don’t mind if we can’t see each other as much as we’d like to at first. I’m a patient guy, I’ll be happy with whatever time you can give me. I can wait for you to chase your dreams and I can be here for you when you need a place to rest, as long as I know you’ll come back. Can that—can  _ I _ be enough for you?”

Marinette’s eyes overflowed and he caught a tear on his thumb. “You’re more than enough. You’re too good, Luka,” Marinette sniffled. “I don’t know if I can ever deserve you after everything I put you through, but I promise I’ll do my best to make this work.” 

_ This _ .  _ There’s a  _ **_this_ ** _. They’re an  _ **_us_ ** _. _ The last time he felt this disconnected from reality, he was high as hell on heavy-duty painkillers after having his appendix out. 

He needed her to say it, Luka realized, like the words were some magic spell that would put his soul back into his body. He needed her to make it real. 

“So we’re going to do this?” he asked roughly. “We’re going to try being together?”

“Well, you said you would and I said I would so I’d say that means we  _ are _ together,” Marinette whispered, blushing with a teary smile. 

“We’re together,” he repeated, a broad grin breaking out over his face. He leaned forward and Marinette lunged to meet him. 

Their first kiss as an official couple tasted like salt and kept getting interrupted because neither of them could stop smiling.


	16. Drums

Neither of them expected to find Adrien standing outside of Marinette’s door when Luka drove her home. 

The sight of the model triggered a fight-or-flight reaction in Luka that he really wasn’t proud of. He tried to convince his tensing muscles and suddenly pounding heart that Adrien wasn’t a threat, but he wasn’t having any luck. Adrien might not be a threat to his relationship with Marinette any more, but Luka’s body remembered when he was; more, even his brain knew that they weren’t getting out of this without some kind of confrontation. 

The look that briefly flashed across Adrien’s face at the sight of the two of them together did nothing to calm Luka’s nerves. There was nothing about their appearance that particularly screamed  _ walk of shame _ ; Marinette had had her own clothes and makeup and had gotten herself cleaned up and more than decently presentable before they left. It wasn’t as if she had showed up with sex hair and day-old makeup, wearing Luka’s clothes. Adrien’s eyes, though, flicked to the bag over her shoulder and the dark look he wore for just an instant had Luka tightening his grip on Marinette’s hand. 

Marinette just sighed and turned to Luka when they reached the landing. “You can go on,” she said, nodding her head towards Adrien. “I’ll deal with him.”

“Are you sure?” Luka asked, frowning. 

Marinette nodded. “It’ll only make things worse if you’re here. I’ll talk to him. Don’t worry.” She rose up on her toes and he bent automatically to meet her, despite his awareness of the green eyes on them. She kissed him softly. “Bye boyfriend,” she murmured, and the grin that split his face might have embarrassed him if he had any shame at all—which he didn’t, not when it came to Marinette at least. 

“Bye girlfriend,” he whispered, and while the smile on her face might not be quite so wide, it was brighter. They kissed again, because they couldn’t help it, and then Marinette turned from him and jogged up the stairs. He stood watching her with that stupid grin for just a moment, until his eyes followed her far enough up the stairs to see Adrien beyond her. He snapped out of his haze and, waving politely (he hoped) to Adrien, he turned to head back down the stairs. He only made it down a couple before he heard a sharp “Ow!” behind him. Luka turned around on instinct, and choked as he saw that Marinette had Adrien’s ear in her grasp as she unlocked her apartment door with the other hand. If the look on her face had been aimed at him, Luka would have assessed his options as flee the country or grovel and pray for mercy. 

Quickly he turned back and headed down the steps before either of them could witness his desperate struggle to keep a straight face.


	17. Riff

Marinette hadn’t been kidding about the amount of work she had to do or the crazy that was her upcoming schedule, so they kind of had to play it by ear when it came to seeing each other. Most often, Luka texted when he was free, and if Marinette needed a break or was satisfied with the amount of work she’d gotten done, they would meet up, sometimes at her place and sometimes at his and sometimes somewhere in between.

He kept reminding himself to calm down, that every new relationship was exciting at first and there was no telling how it would really go until the honeymoon phase was over, but it wasn’t working very well. Luka craved her presence and her voice and her touch, and she...well, she still returned his affections as enthusiastically as she had from the beginning, so she wasn’t sick of him yet.

Luka asked her once about Adrien, and the look on her face made him wince. 

“Since I wouldn’t go out with him on Valentine’s, he thought he would show up and sweep me away for a surprise romantic rendezvous the day after. He, uh, obviously didn’t expect that I wouldn’t come home, since I’d told him it was a first date.” She shrugged. “He tried to convince me to go out with him anyway, to give him a chance to see what a first date with him would be like, but…” She shrugged, smiling up at him. “I told him no. He’s not happy, but I think he’s resigned. I told Nino to check up on him, hopefully they’ll do whatever the guy equivalent is of chick flicks and ice cream.” Marinette sighed. “I hated having to break his heart, but the sooner he gets past this, the sooner we can be friends again.”

Luka bit back the reflex to ask her again if she was sure. She must have seen something on his face though, because Marinette tilted her head and looked at him.

“What?”

“I don’t know, I—” Luka sighed. “I know you said you didn’t want to, but I can’t help feeling like I’m standing between you and your dream. You were  _ so _ into him, and—”

“Luka,” Marinette interrupted, taking his hand. “It’s not about you. I promise it isn’t. He’s been trying to get me to go out with him for a couple of months now, he just stepped it up because of Valentine’s Day and because he knows I start my new job soon and I won’t be available as much.” She sighed. “As for my dream...It was always for Adrien to see me. And even with the way he’s been lately...I just don’t think he does, Luka. Even as close as we’ve gotten over the years, I think he’s seeing something completely different when he looks at me right now. Maybe when he gets past this infatuation, he’ll finally be able to see all of me clearly and we’ll be closer than ever. But you…” Marinette reached up and laid her hand on his face. Luka leaned into her touch, though he kept his eyes fixed on her. “You’ve always seen me. From the beginning.” She paused, and bit her lip. “You know, don’t you?”

Luka knew immediately what she was asking, and he could feel her fear in the way she was squeezing his hand hard enough that he winced. “Are you sure you want me to answer that?” he said gently, pulling his hand free and slipping his arms around her.

“You know…” Marinette sighed, digging her fingers into the fabric of his hoodie. “I think I do, actually. I need you to say it.”

Luka was silent for a moment, then he smiled, a little shakily. “I always thought you were amazing. I knew that you’d only be more amazing when you finally—” He took a deep breath. “When you finally found the same confidence in yourself...without the mask. Because Ladybug can’t exist without Marinette, so I knew you had it in you to be—” Luka shook his head and chuckled. “Miraculous.” 

Marinette smiled at him, the kind of smile that always made his breath catch and his knees go weak, because it made her radiant. A little red kwami zipped up to hover over her shoulder. “I’ve been telling her that for years!”

“Shoo, Tikki,” Marinette giggled. “We’re having a moment. You can meet him in a minute.” She paused and eyed the kwami. “You’re not mad?”

Tikki held up her little flippers in a helpless gesture. “What would be the point? I might have told you to wait if you’d asked, but…”

“Sorry,” Marinette said sheepishly. “I guess I was being a bit impulsive. I know we’ve been keeping the secret a long time, but it just—” she sighed. “It just felt right.” 

“Maybe it was impulsive,” Tikki said, flying forward to pat her cheek. “But you’ve always had good instincts and you’ve been the Guardian for a long time now, Marinette. I trust your decisions, even the ones you make with your heart rather than your head. Besides—” Tikki fixed a look on Luka and then leaned in like she was telling Marinette a secret. “That’s the way it is with Second Chance—the snake always finds out eventually.” Tikki winked at Luka, who blushed, and then she zipped out of sight.

Marinette stood there for a minute, making a face. “Oh, now she decides to be all cavalier about it. The snake always finds out,” she mimicked Tikki’s high voice. “Where was that back when I was falling to pieces and you and Chat were the only ones holding me together, and I couldn’t tell either of you the truth?” She sighed, letting her head forehead fall onto his chest. Luka patted her back sympathetically.

“She’s right,” Luka admitted. “I saw you, and Rena Rouge, and Pegasus in different battles that went wrong, but Sass said the same thing to me. That part of the responsibility of the Snake and the Rabbit is to keep their mouth shut about things they see. But…” He stroked her hair lightly. “You, I already knew about. I was pretty sure, at least.”

“You’ve always seen me,” she whispered, and Luka could hear the smile in it.

Luka chuckled. “It was hard not to, since I’ve barely been able to look away since the moment we met.” 


	18. Vocal

Marinette was approaching a deadline, which was obvious by the increasingly messy state of her hair, the slight widening of her eyes, and the tension that wouldn’t leave her shoulders. Luka had offered to come over and make dinner for her. He wanted to support her any way he could, and also he missed her and wanted to spend time with her, even if she couldn’t pay much attention to him. Marinette had maybe given him a bit of a skeptical look when she let him in, but she was too busy to hover and so he was left to himself in the kitchen.

Luka wasn’t a  _ great _ cook by any means, but he could follow a recipe and clean up after himself, so aside from a few delays while he tried to figure out where some of Marinette’s kitchen tools were, things were going relatively smoothly. Marinette was playing some internet radio station that played the kind of music that had a beat but was mostly easy to ignore. Luka moved to the beat automatically, humming as he worked. 

Forgetting that he wasn’t by himself, he went from humming to singing, softly at first. “Now I never been one of them, guys who could be leading men, just never seemed all that real…” He hummed as he paused to read the instructions on a box of pasta, and then set it to the side. “So I’ll grab your hand, ask you to dance, in the middle of the street, learn to sign cheesy lines like baby you complete me…”

It only took a couple of songs for him to forget himself and get lost in the music, and while he had learned long ago not to belt at full volume in an apartment building, soon he was letting his voice fill the small space as he worked.

“Isn’t she cray, crazy beautiful, isn’t she strange, strange and wonderful—whoa,” he grinned sheepishly as he turned to find Marinette leaning against the kitchen entrance, watching him with an amused smile. Luka was a performer and he was not easily embarrassed, so he just hooked her around the waist and pulled her into the kitchen to spin with him. “And I think I love her more than I even understand,” he continued as she laughed at him. Luka pulled her close and Marinette put her arms around his neck, grinning up as she moved with him. “She’s a little bit mad, a little bit wild, a little bit uh-oh, beautiful, wild, a little bit bad, a little bit uh-oh—” Marinette leaned up and kissed him, and he melted into her, chasing her as she came down off her toes for just a little more. 

Luka pulled her even closer, pressing his forehead to hers. “Isn’t she cray crazy, beautiful, isn’t she strange, strange and wonderful, and I think I love her more than I even understand.” He nearly sighed the end of it, and then kissed her softly. “Out,” he told her, pushing her away gently. “I’m not done, and you’re supposed to be working. Go finish your work and we can dance some more after dinner.” 

Marinette gave him the kind of smile he was usually giving her, and it set butterflies zooming around in his stomach. “Will you sing for me some more?”

He gave her a soft smile back, then turned it into a cocky smirk, putting a hand over his heart. “My heart’s always singing for you, babe.” Luka laughed as she shoved him, catching her and pulling her in for one more kiss.

“This is the first time I’ve heard you sing,” she said, laying a hand on his cheek, and shaking her head when he opened his mouth to respond. “I mean,  _ not _ like, on stage. Not for an audience. Just you, singing because you’re happy. Nobody to hear but me. I…” she bit her lip. “It’s nice. I really like it. It makes me happy.” 

“Then I’ll never stop,” he said, nudging his nose against hers before he turned her around and propelled her out of the kitchen. “Now out.” 

Luka turned back to his work, getting back in the rhythm, then humming, and joining in with the radio, “And it seems that every time we’re eye to eye, I can find another piece of you that I don’t want to lose…ba bum bum...I’m thinkin’ you’re the girl I need...I’m just sayin’ it’s fine by me, if you never leave...”


	19. Flames

It started innocently enough. They were doing the dishes before Luka left for the night, but Marinette had been darting nervous looks at him all evening, and Luka was admittedly a bit tense about it, but he’d been waiting for her to get there on her own.

“I was thinking…” Marinette finally said hesitantly. 

“I’m listening,” Luka replied as evenly as he could.

“I was wondering if maybe we could invite Adrien to join us for a movie night after this deadline passes.” 

“Oh, is that all?” Luka relaxed. “Sure, that’s fine with me.”

“Is it really?” Marinette asked, putting a hand on his arm to turn him towards her so she could see his face.

“Sure, why wouldn’t it be?” Luka shrugged. “It might be a little stiff the first few times we hang out together but it won’t get any easier, so might as well go for it. Hopefully the awkwardness will settle after the first time. You told me how close you guys are, and I don’t want to take that away from you. You want to invite him, invite him.”

“I just, I haven’t had much time and I’ve been spending a lot of it with you, and I just don’t want him to think I’ve abandoned him,” Marinette said, her face pinched with worry. “A lot of people have abandoned him and I don’t want him to think I’d just drop him like that because I have a boyfriend now.”

“Sure, makes sense.” Luka smiled at her. “It’ll be good to see him again.” 

But by the time movie night arrived a week later, Luka was beginning to lose his considerable patience. “Marinette, stop worrying, I told you it was fine.” 

“I just, I want you to understand,” Marinette raked her fingers through her hair in nervous frustration. “Because—because I know it looks weird, and people misunderstand and they think it means more than it does, and I don’t want  _ you _ to misunderstand, and you’re my boyfriend and it would be totally reasonable for you to have a problem with it, and if it’s  _ going _ to be a problem I want to know now so I can...so I can do something—”

“So you can pretend?” Luka asked, a little more sharply than he meant to, and Marinette flinched. Luka sighed. “Marinette, I’m not angry, I promise, I’m just... _ really _ tired of having this conversation. We’ve been over all this before, multiple times. Adrien’s been abandoned by a lot of people. His father was a cold, manipulative asshole and he’s touch starved, and he overcompensates with his friends, which means he hangs all over you and you don’t want to tell him to stop. I get it. Well. I mean, honestly? I don’t, exactly, but Marinette,  _ it doesn’t matter  _ if I get it. I’m not going to be upset and I’m not going to get all territorial and unless he grabs your ass or something—”

Marinette burst out laughing. “He wouldn’t dare.” 

“Didn’t think so,” Luka chuckled. “Okay, so as long as you’re comfortable with him I’m cool. If you’re uncomfortable, you can tell him yourself in whatever way you think best. I’ll back you up, but I’m not going to make your choices for you. So long as we’re clear I’m the only one that gets to do this—” He leaned in and kissed her tenderly. “It’s all good. So for the sake of my sanity,  _ please _ stop explaining and apologizing. Hug him, hold hands, whatever, I don’t care, that’s between you guys.” 

Marinette’s smile was tight. “You’re too chill,” she told him, shaking her head. “I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.” 

“I promise I am not going to get in a fistfight with Adrien in your house,” he said so solemnly that she laughed. “Seriously, Marinette, if you want to know the truth, I do have some feelings about it and it’s going to take me some time to get comfortable with Adrien and with you and Adrien.” He shrugged. “But you said you wanted to be with me. And we’re exclusive, aren’t we? No kissing or sexual touching outside of this relationship, right?” 

“What? Yes,” Marinette said, nodding vigorously, turning red at his blunt words. “Absolutely.” 

“Okay,” Luka nodded. “I trust you. I mean if he starts rubbing up on you just to piss me off, then yeah, we’re going to have a problem, but if something makes me uncomfortable, I’ll tell you and we can talk about it. Otherwise, I trust you and you’re the one who makes decisions about your relationships outside of me. And if I get up in my feelings and start being territorial and weird about it I fully expect you to kick my ass.” He winked and Marinette giggled. “Preferably before my mother gets wind of it and comes after me,” he added. “You’d be a lot more merciful, I guarantee.” He put his hand on her shoulder and kissed her cheek. “We’ll make it work, okay? I promise. It’s not just your problem to solve. If it’s an issue we’ll work it out together.”

She smiled and hugged him, and his irritation faded as he pulled her close and felt her small hands smooth up his back. “You worry too much,” he told her, and she huffed.

“I don’t know how to  _ not _ worry anymore,” she muttered. “I’m pretty sure that stress is all that holds me together. If I ever stopped worrying I’d just disperse into my component atoms.” 

Luka chuckled, bending to kiss her warmly. “We’ve got to find some other way to keep you together,” he told her, laying soft kisses on her neck and shoulder. “Because we’re definitely going to work on teaching you to  _ relax _ .” She hummed contentedly, and he lifted his head and kissed her again. 

They were still wrapped up when Adrien knocked on Marinette’s door. Adrien’s eyes flicked between them and his grin twisted a little.

“Your third wheel has arrived,” Adrien joked, sweeping a bow. 

“Glad to have you,” Luka said from behind Marinette with a grin of his own, “Because I’ve seen Marinette ride a bike and it’s not pretty.” 

“Luka!” Marinette gasped and turned to smack him in the gut. Luka let out an oof, but he was still chuckling as Marinette turned to give Adrien a warm hug. He didn’t catch what they said, but after Marinette let him go, Adrien took a step forward and held out his hand to Luka. 

“Hey, Luka, good to see you again.” 

Luka took Adrien’s hand and pulled him into a hug of his own. “Hey, man. Good to see you, it’s been forever,” he said, thumping Adrien’s back lightly.

“Yeah,” Adrien said, slowly returning the hug. “Yeah, it really has, hasn’t it?”

Luka pulled back. “You look good,” he grinned. “Not so much the skinny little kid anymore.” Luka frowned. “You look like you could use some sleep though.” 

“Yeah,” Adrien rubbed his hand through his hair and looked away. “It’s been a crazy week, I’m beat.” 

“Are you sure you’re up for this, Adrien?” Marinette frowned, looking into his face. “We can do it another night, if you—”

“No, no,” Adrien said quickly, putting up his hands. “Come on, Marinette, I haven’t seen you in ages. I’m fine, honestly. You want me to do the popcorn?”

Marinette narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, and he gave her a puppy-eyed look back, and they had some kind of stand off, and then she gave a  _ your funeral _ sort of shrug. “I still think you should go home and sleep, but sure, go ahead. I’ll get the drinks. Luka, can you get the movie ready to go?”

Adrien jumped slightly, like he had forgotten Luka was there. “Sure,” Luka replied easily, and went to do just that. 

Luka finished his task first, so he wandered back and leaned on the door frame of the small kitchen and watched them work. He could see what Marinette had been talking about, now, when she said people often misunderstood their relationship. It wasn’t just in their physical closeness, but it was the nicknames, the inside jokes, the way they moved around each other naturally. It would be easy to mistake them for a couple. He understood a little better now why Marinette was so worried. It did make something ugly stir in his stomach, but Luka took a deep breath and stomped on that ugly thing as hard as he could. He trusted Marinette. 

Then Marinette turned around and saw Luka, and her already smiling face lit up, while Adrien’s dimmed slightly as he followed her gaze. “All set?” she asked, and Luka nodded, smiling back fondly. He took some of the snack plates she was trying to balance with the drinks and let her lead the way to the couch with he and Adrien trailing behind.

Luka found himself wedged against the arm of the couch, Marinette burrowed into his side so that Adrien, still clearly exhausted, could have the majority of the couch. Adrien’s head rested on Marinette’s leg and she was petting his hair absently. If Luka was being totally honest with himself, it  _ was _ a little weird, seeing how touchy they were when he could remember a time when Marinette would have passed out if Adrien’s sleeve brushed against her, but oddly he found it more comforting than disturbing. Even the new, confident Marinette was prone to blushing and spluttering when Luka touched or kissed her, so the fact that she seemed entirely immune to Adrien’s presence seemed like a positive sign. Luka was himself an extremely tactile person, so he was much less bothered by their casual contact than he had been with their easy intimacy in the kitchen. 

Marinette was a bit tense at first, but as both boys behaved themselves, she began to relax. She left off her petting of Adrien and snuggled into Luka’s chest and he pressed his lips silently to her forehead. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, until about halfway through the movie a noise made Luka look over at Adrien, and he realized that Adrien had fallen asleep. His eyes were closed and his lips were parted and he was breathing deeply.

Except the noise that had gotten Luka’s attention wasn’t snoring. Adrien was  _ purring _ . Luka’s eyebrows went up. 

Luka felt Marinette go rigid against his side as she registered the noise, and she turned wide eyes up at him, like she expected him to be angry at her for not revealing a secret that wasn’t hers to tell. 

Luka just tightened his arm around her shoulders and turned his gaze back to the movie. “Huh,” he said, picking up his soda from the end table. “That explains a lot.”


	20. Sketchbook

Luka watched Marinette scribble in her sketchbook, growing more concerned by the minute. He’d thought at first that she was just having a creative burst, but the more he watched her, the more he felt like this was something else. She’d answered the door with graphite smudged on her cheek and shining on the heel of her hand, so she’d clearly been at this for a while. 

It had been nearly half an hour since he dropped by and she’d hardly looked at him. Luka touched her knee gently and sighed when she jumped. “Marinette,” Luka said, leaning forward to look at her face. “I can come back if this is a bad time. I know dropping in was kind of last minute.” 

“No, I…” Marinette sighed. “It’s not anything important, I’ve just...been trying to clear my head and it’s not working.” She fiddled with her pencil, avoiding his eyes.

Luka took a slow breath, and then asked, “Is this about last night?” 

Marinette shifted uncomfortably. “Are you mad?”

Luka blinked. “No. I mean, I’m kind of glad I know, because now I understand a lot better what’s been going on with you two. I’m not mad at you for not telling me, though, and I’m not mad at you for—for what? Being partners with Chat Noir? That’d be kind of ridiculous, don’t you think? I know I can get a little emotional and impulsive but I like to think I’m not  _ completely  _ irrational.” 

“N-no, of course not,” Marinette sighed, and then she groaned, putting her face in her hands. “I don’t know, I guess I just…” 

“It’s okay,” Luka said, sliding closer and pulling her gently into his arms. “Just say what you need to say. I’m listening.” 

Marinette took a deep breath. “Adrien will always be part of my life,” she said quietly. “He’s—it’s so hard to explain. He’s a part of me. We need each other. I do love him, it’s just not the way he wants. And I guess...I guess I’m afraid you’re not going to be okay with that. I mean it’s more than just...just regular friendship. We went through so much together. And it would be hard enough to ask you to accept that if it was anyone else, but it...it’s Adrien and I’m afraid…” 

“You’re afraid I can’t handle Adrien being such a huge part of your life,” Luka supplied, “Because if everything that went down before?”

“And because of the way he is now.” Marinette’s shoulders slumped. “Chat Noir’s been in love with Ladybug from the beginning. We revealed our identities six months ago and…” She sighed heavily. “All that time I was trying so hard to get his attention...and he couldn’t see me because he was in love with Ladybug.” 

Luka blew out a slow breath. “Wow.”

“Yeah,” Marinette sighed. “I don’t know, maybe we had a chance once. Maybe if we’d revealed our identities sooner...but, I just don’t know. Because the truth is, I didn’t see him back then either. I didn’t see the boy I loved in Chat Noir. I didn’t see Chat Noir in the boy I loved. I mean, did I really see Adrien at all? Or was I so blinded by my feelings for him that I was just blinded to his flaws? Then he started dating other people, and it’s like even when he was trying to put Ladybug out of his mind, I was never even in the picture. But I still wanted to be his friend, so I worked on putting feelings aside. And the more successful I was, the more I began to truly see Adrien for who he was, flaws and quirks and all. So it feels like...like those feelings back then weren’t really...healthy. They were—I don’t know if they were too strong or not strong enough, really.” 

“Strong, but shallow,” Luka suggested, squeezing her lightly. “Totally normal for crushes at that age, Marinette.” 

She snuggled into his chest gratefully. “Thanks for saying that. But still...it really seems like the only time Adrien and I can really accept each other is when we’re not trying to be more than friends. But we  _ are _ really close. It  _ looks _ a lot like a romantic relationship. And Adrien, he’s so lonely, Luka. He lost his mother and his father, and Nathalie, who he was starting to look at as a second mother, and Chloe, who as horrible as she was, was still his friend. He’s needy, and what he needs is me.” 

“Someone who’s always been there for him,” Luka nodded. “I can see that.” 

“So…” Marinette plucked at the sleeve of his hoodie absently. “So I would totally understand, if this is too much for you. I didn’t know how to explain it before because you didn’t know the whole story. And...Adrien, he’s different as Chat. All those polite fronts he puts up during the day drop when he’s wearing the mask. Most of the time it’s nice, but sometimes it can be...Well. It can be a lot.”

“Chat Noir, being extra? No, do tell,” Luka deadpanned, and Marinette shoved him lightly. 

“I’m being serious,” she scolded. “This is important, Luka.” 

“Yes, it is,” Luka said, smoothing her hair with his hand. “It’s obvious this is very important to you and I understand why you’re concerned. I told you before, though, that you’re the one who’s in charge of your other relationships. Thank you for explaining it to me, that means a lot and it will help me understand some things. I can’t promise it’s going to be all sunshine and roses, but I’m not going to cut and run over it.” 

Marinette relaxed slightly, looking up into his face. She lifted a hand and stroked his cheek, and Luka couldn’t resist leaning down to kiss her. She leaned up to meet him more eagerly than he expected, and for several dizzying moments he was completely distracted from the discussion. Marinette pulled back a little bit, running her fingers through her hair as she asked him, “We actually have patrol tonight. Why don’t you come with us? Hawkmoth is gone and Chloe’s in America, so there’s no reason Viperion can’t make a comeback.” 

“You want me to?” he asked, touched. 

“You were a great superhero,” she told him, kissing him tenderly. “I hated that we couldn’t use you again after what happened. I never trusted anyone with the snake the way I trusted you.”

“I’d like to see Sass again,” Luka admitted. “If you’re sure it’s okay, then...yeah, I’d love to come with you.” 

Marinette smiled, and kissed him, and Luka kissed her back, and one kiss led to another and another, and they were still kissing when a heavy thump behind them made Luka jump. 

Marinette sighed quietly as she pulled away from him and pasted a smile on her face as she looked over the back of the couch. “Hi, Chat.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've gotten a couple comments complimenting me on not making Adrien a jerk, and I just feel the need to caution, because I don't want anyone to be disappointed - I'm not going to make him a jerk, but this is hard for him and he's not going to be a saint all the time either (neither will Luka, and neither will Marinette). I promise there will always be reasons behind every character's actions though just stick with me to the end and see how it all turns out..


	21. Late Night Escape

Chat smiled, until he saw Luka, hair ruffled and lips bruised, staring over the back of the couch in some surprise. 

“Oh, it’s you,” Chat said rudely, standing up from his crouch to fold his arms. Luka’s jaw tightened and Marinette gave him a frightened look, and then she stood up, turning on Chat.

“Don’t be rude, Chat,” she snapped, and the cat’s ears flattened. 

“Why’s he here?” Chat grumbled, staring down Luka.

“Shouldn’t you like, knock or something?” Luka couldn’t help asking, slightly annoyed at Chat’s casual invasion of Marinette’s space, and his attitude in general, in spite of everything she’d just told him. 

Chat rolled his eyes. “Waiting around on the balcony just attracts unnecessary attention. She knew I was coming, it’s patrol night.” He gestured to the open window he'd leapt through, and then looked at Marinette. “It’s patrol night, so why is he here?” 

“One, because he’s my boyfriend—” Chat flinched at the word, “So he’s always welcome here. And two, he’s coming with us,” Marinette said firmly, and Chat sighed gustily. 

“Seriously?” he complained. “He shouldn’t even know about us!” 

“It’s your own fault he knows about you,” Marinette pointed out. “I told you to go home and sleep and we could do it another time, but you insisted and then _ you’re _ the one who fell asleep and started  _ purring _ .”

“He wouldn’t have thought anything about it if you hadn’t told him about you already,” Chat shot back. “And you’re the one who wanted him to be there.”

“Of course I wanted him to be there, he’s my boyfriend!” Marinette repeated. “And I didn’t have to tell him,” she added. “Unlike  _ some  _ people, he knew from the beginning. Didn’t you?” She looked at Luka.

“Well...yeah,” he admitted sheepishly. “It’s not like the mask really hides that much. Honestly I’m not sure how everybody didn’t know.” He looked at Adrien. “I should have known about you, too, now that I look back, but…” He shrugged, trying to find a tactful way to say that he didn’t care enough to puzzle it out. He went with “It seemed safer not to think about it too much,” which was at least mostly true. 

Marinette turned to Chat and gestured at Luka with an air of triumph.

“That’s not fair!” Chat cried. “You actively tried to deceive me! You rigged it so I would see Marinette and Ladybug together!”

“It was kind of important at the time,” Marinette defended. 

Luka coughed. “You want me to leave so you can—“

“No,” Marinette cut him off, heading into her bedroom. “I’m not having this conversation with him  _ again _ .”

“Ohhhhkay,” Luka sighed, and stuck his hands in his pockets. “Sorry for crashing without warning,” he told Chat, trying to be sincere although Chat’s attitude made him not all that sorry. “Stopping by was kind of a last minute thing and then Marinette suggested—well, one of us should have called you.” 

“Yeah,” Chat said gruffly, folding his arms. “Whatever, I’ve never been the ones calling the shots in this relationship.” 

Luka pursed his lips and took a deep breath through his nose. Marinette really wasn’t kidding about the difference in Adrien when he was Chat.

Marinette returned and tossed something at Luka. He caught it, and then shielded his eyes against the blinding light that issued from it. When he put his arm down he grinned. “Sass! How you been, buddy?”

Chuckling, Sass zipped at him and hugged his cheek. Luka cupped his hand around the snake, touched by this display of emotion from the normally cool little kwami. “It issss  _ good _ to ssssee you,” Sass told him, and Luka smiled.

“It’s good to see you too, friend.” He slipped the bracelet on, glanced at Sass, and with the kwami’s encouraging nod, he spoke the words.

A few moments and a rush of magic later, Luka looked down at himself, just like he had all those years ago. “Still weird,” he chuckled. “Awesome, but weird.”

Marinette looked him up and down shamelessly, an appreciative smile on her face. “Nice.”

Luka blushed.

“My turn,” Marinette winked. 

Knowing she was Ladybug and watching her  _ become _ Ladybug were two completely different experiences. And man, that skintight suit was a whole different thing now that she was a mature woman, accentuating every line and curve of her athletic figure. Damn. He wasn’t a generally a jealous guy but suddenly he was glad she didn’t go out in broad daylight much anymore.

“Wow,” Luka— _ Viperion _ murmured, and Chat growled. 

“So are we going or what?” Chat demanded. 

“If you two can keep up,” Ladybug sniffed, sauntering to the window as she unstrung her yo-yo. 

Luka didn’t realize his eyes were planted on her ass until Chat snorted. 

“Classy, Couffaine,” Chat muttered, and Luka flushed, studying the carpet.

“Like that’s not the Chat calling the kettle black,” Ladybug snapped, turning back with a hand planted on her hip. “He’s my boyfriend,  _ he’s _ allowed to look.” Okay Luka wasn’t sure how to even begin processing that statement. “And no civilian names in the suit!”

Right, he was Viperion now, not Luka Couffaine.  _ Viperion _ . 

And he was Ladybug’s  _ boyfriend _ who had her explicit consent to ogle her rear. 

God, how was this his life?

Viperion suddenly wasn’t really sure a run on the rooftops was the best plan. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m actually on a little mini vacation this weekend so I may be slower to respond than usual, but thanks for reading, I still appreciate you!


	22. Phone Call

_ Are you awake? _

Luka glanced at the clock and frowned.  _ Yes, but why are you _ ? he sent back. 

_ Can I call? _

_ Of course. _

Luka sat up in bed and waited for the call. 

“Hey,” he said as soon as he picked up. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Marinette said, sounding exhausted. “I mean, I hope so. I mean I just wanted to talk to you and make sure. Um, that things are okay. I mean, after yesterday. I know things were a little tense with Ch—Adrien and I just wanted to talk to you and I meant to call you earlier but my sewing machine jammed and it took forever to fix it and I didn’t mean to let it get so late—”

“Marinette,” Luka interrupted. “You’re clearly tired. Why don’t you just go to bed and we can talk tomorrow?” 

“No!” Marinette exclaimed. “I just, I need to know you’re okay.”

“I’m okay,” he told her, running his fingers through his hair. “I mean, yeah, things were a little tense, but I was crashing a thing that’s  _ your  _ thing, so I should have expected him to get kind of pissy about it. I shouldn’t have let it get to me.” Even though if he  _ had _ shoved Chat off a roof somewhere around the fourth or fifth snide comment, it would have been totally deserved and justifiable. “Lesson learned, we’ll work on it. Maybe keep the rooftop runs your thing for a while longer until we’re all more settled out of the suits.” 

“Luka, I feel bad, this—you didn’t sign up for any of this, and everything’s gotten so complicated all of a sudden, if you don’t want—”

“I don’t want to break up with you,” Luka interrupted sharply. “So stop that line of thinking right now, okay?” The sudden silence made him wince. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so harsh, and if—if  _ you’re _ having second thoughts—.” 

“No! No.”

Luka breathed out slowly, hands shaking slightly. “Okay. Sorry, I just…”

“It’s okay, I know I’m a lot to deal with and—”

“No, no, Marinette, sweetheart, please stop thinking like that,” Luka sighed. “Listen. I care about you and that’s not going to change. I want to be with you and just because  _ love me, love my cat  _ doesn’t mean exactly what you’d expect in this case doesn’t mean I’m going to give up.” 

She giggled softly, and he smiled. “Marinette, I think maybe we should talk about this more in person, but...here’s what I need from you in this situation."

“Okay,” she said nervously.

“Stop taking responsibility for everyone’s feelings,” he said as gently as he could, trying not to let his irritation leak into his voice. “You’re taking too much on yourself and it’s exhausting you and  _ that’s _ why I’m frustrated. You focus on taking care of yourself and doing what you need to do for your job, okay? The rest of this stuff with Adrien, it’s just noise, we’ll get past it, but we can’t do that if you burn yourself out trying to fix everything and I’ll never forgive myself if our drama costs you this opportunity. My feelings are my feelings and it’s my job to deal with them, not yours. And the same is true of Adrien. You need to stop making excuses for him and walking on eggshells to make him comfortable. You also don’t have to be so defensive about me, I can handle it. Your friendship is never going to last if you can’t be authentic with each other. Just...stop. Let him take responsibility for himself. I get that you feel bad for hurting him and you want to make this as easy as possible, I do too, but baby we can’t do all the work for him. Okay? I need you to work on staying true to yourself no matter how Adrien and I are feeling.”

Marinette sighed. “Okay, that makes sense. But...but you still have to tell me. You still have to talk to me, Luka. I don’t want you to just bottle things up until you can’t take it anymore and then one day out of the blue you’re just done and you don’t want to see me anymore.” 

“I promise, that won’t happen,” Luka soothed. “We’ll talk just like we always have. It’s just...you know, we talked about scars. You have some, including this feeling you get that you’re the only one that can fix a problem. Adrien has a ton. Mine are still there too. There might be times when I’m jealous, there might be times where I’m uncomfortable. And we’ll talk about it, but it’s not your problem to solve. Just...I might need you every once in a while to remind me that you chose me and that you care about me. But I don’t expect you to fix me, you know? Just, let me work through it, give me some space if I need some, and call me out on it if I start taking it out on you or Adrien, okay?”

“Okay,” Marinette agreed.

“Okay,” Luka nodded to himself. “And we’ve got to do the same for Adrien. We’ve got to remind him that you’re not going to disappear from his life just because you’re dating me, that you don’t have to be his lover to be committed to him. At the same time, he’s got to do the work on his side and we need to call him out when he crosses a line. Both of us, not just me. You snap to my defense in a heartbeat but then you let him take it out on you instead. I’ll fight my battles but you need to fight yours. It’s okay to have boundaries, Marinette. If you’re uncomfortable you need to tell him.

“Right,” Marinette said, a little more reluctantly. 

“It’s gonna be okay, Marinette,” Luka told her firmly. “The circumstances are a little whacky but this, figuring out how to fit into each other’s lives, this is all normal relationship stuff, Marinette, just...maybe a little more intense than most people have to deal with. It’ll be okay. Just stop feeling like you have to fix everything right away. It doesn’t have to get fixed all at once and it’s not all on you to fix it.”

“Yeah,” Marinette sighed shakily. “Yeah. Thanks, Luka.” 

Luka smiled at the quaver in her voice. “Go cry about it if you need to, but then go to bed. You’ve been way too stressed to be dealing with all this. Get some rest, and focus on your work, and let things happen as they happen. It’s going to be okay.”

“It’s going to be okay,” Marinette repeated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for those hoping Viperion would make an on-screen appearance; he will, just not today. Sorry!
> 
> Also, I have to confess the next few days are not written yet, and I'm hoping to have enough time tonight to get at least tomorrow's done, but there may be a delay depending on how things go the next few days.


	23. Gasping for Air

Adrien didn’t have to say anything when he showed up at Luka’s job at the music store. Luka took one look at him, and with a quiet word to his coworker, nodded to the back door. Adrien followed him and the two men stood facing each other in the back alley. 

“I wanted to apologize for that patrol night,” Adrien said, feet shuffling slightly. “I was out of line.”

Luka studied him for a moment, trying to judge his sincerity. “Thanks,” he replied. “I’m sorry too. We weren’t very considerate of your feelings and I’m really sorry about that. It won’t happen again, I’ll respect your time with her. I’m not trying to get in between you two.”

Adrien gave him a look, and Luka shrugged. “I’m not. You guys have a pretty intense relationship, I get that and I respect it. I told Marinette the same thing, that she shouldn’t feel like she has to include me in everything. I’m happy to spend time with the two of you but you have your own thing and that’s okay.”

“It’s not a thing,” Adrien grumbled, folding his arms. Luka resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“Whatever you want to call it.”

“We have a bond you can’t even hope to understand,” Adrien told him matter-of-factly. “You think you know because you did a few months as a part-time hero but you don’t.”

“I don’t,” Luka agreed with a slight shrug, turning to lean against the wall of the alley. “You’re right. I’m okay with that.” 

“You won’t be.”

Luka sighed, and took a moment to gather his thoughts, leaning his head back against the wall and staring up at the sky. 

“Adrien,” Luka said at last, slow and thoughtful. “Listen, I’m never going to be the one to make Marinette choose between us. You’re important to her and she’s important to you and I don’t want to take that away from either of you, I swear.” He lowered his gaze, met Adrien’s green eyes squarely. “But you need to know that I’m all in here. You’ve been in love with Ladybug for a long time, I get it, but I’ve been in love with Marinette almost as long and...I’m not going anywhere. Unless Marinette decides she doesn’t want me around anymore, I’m going to be part of her life for a long time.” 

Adrien looked away. “She’s the love of my life.”

“She doesn’t think so.” 

Adrien’s eyes snapped up to him. “What do you expect me to do, just get over her?” 

Luka shrugged. “Maybe not right away, but eventually.”

Adrien just shook his head. “That’s not how it works.”

“Yeah, it kind of is,” Luka replied a little more sharply than he intended, and he winced.

“Maybe for you,” Adrien shot back, and Luka hand to clamp his mouth shut and look at the ground not to bite back.

“She’s all I have left,” Adrien said after a moment, and then he looked at Luka. “I’m not going to just give her up.”

“I’m telling you, you don’t have to,” Luka promised him. “It doesn’t have to change, except I’m here for you too now if you want me to be. You guys can be what you’ve always been.” 

“We’ve always been meant to be,” Adrien muttered, looking at the ground. “We’re made for each other.” 

Luka thought back to hours of failed planning he’d suffered through overhearing way back when, and shook his head. If they were _ meant to be _ , then...well. The universe was pretty damn incompetent.

“She doesn’t think so,” Luka repeated simply, and shoved off the wall. “I have to get back to work,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Look, Adrien, I know you’re frustrated and hurting, but don’t do anything stupid that you’re both going to regret. She wants to be there for you. And believe it or not, I want to be there for you too. We were friends back then and I’d like to be friends again. And honestly I feel like I owe you a lot for taking care of her, and taking care of Paris all those years. I know...it cost you a lot.” Luka put his hand on Adrien’s shoulder and squeezed lightly. “So think about what you need to make this work. I’ll say this one more time, Adrien—I’m not going to make her choose between us. If you do...then whatever happens is on you, man.” 

Adrien’s eyes followed him as he moved back to the door. “Could you give her up? If our positions were reversed?”

Luka snorted softly. “I already did. It was hard and it sucked, I did what I had to to move on.” 

“Not very far,” Adrien muttered under his breath. Luka ignored that, as there was more truth to it than he really wanted to admit.

“Ask her about it,” he said instead. “I don’t feel like that’s my story to tell. Have a good day, Adrien.” 

Jean raised an eyebrow as he came back inside. “Trouble in paradise?” he asked quietly, and Luka shook his head. 

“It’s complicated,” he sighed with a lopsided smile. “It’ll work itself out.” 

“Okay,” Jean said, raising his eyebrows and shaking his head. “Complications involving supermodels seem like they’d be some pretty big damn complications.”

Luka laughed. “I only wish it were that simple. It’s fine, Jean, I swear, no need to chase him out with a pitchfork if he comes in again.”

“Dude,” Jean snorted. “That guy’s shirt is probably worth more than my entire house. I love you man but not that much.”

“Good to know,” Luka chuckled, punching him lightly in the arm. 

Luka texted Marinette when his shift was over, just to make sure she was doing okay. He knew she was drowning in work though so he didn’t wait for a reply. 

He was at home when she called, trying to get ready for the show he was playing that night. “Hey,” he said, grinning when he answered the phone. “You didn’t have to call, I know you’re busy. I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay.” 

“I wanted to hear your voice,” she said, and she sounded much better than she had the night before.

“My voice is here for you,” Luka joked. “Along with the rest of me. How are you doing? Did you sleep?” 

“I’m okay,” she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice. “I did sleep, though not as much as I wish I had. Do you have a gig tonight?” 

“Yeah, I have a few things I need to do before I start getting ready.” He shuffled through his tiny closet and let out another huff of annoyance. “Including laundry, apparently, I could have sworn I had another clean shirt in here…”

Marinette giggled. “I’ll let you get to it then.”

“I can stay on the phone if you need me.”

“No, I have a million things to do,” Marinette sighed. “I’m sorry I can’t come to your gig again tonight.”

“Not gonna lie, I’ll miss you,” Luka chuckled. “I really loved having you there. Some other time though.”

“Next weekend,” Marinette promised. “I can’t come every time, but send me your schedule. I’ll make sure I get there at least once a week if I can.” Luka froze, standing there silently. “Luka?”

“Really?” he said. “I mean, they’re mostly just club gigs, nothing big, you don’t…you don’t have to do that. I know you’re busy, I get it.”

“Luka,” Marinette said, her voice softening. “I want to. Of course I want to. I’d be there at every show if I could. I love hearing you play, even if it’s not a big show.” 

It was a long moment before Luka could say anything. “Okay,” Luka finally managed. “I’ll send you my schedule.” 

Marinette sighed. “Is it weird that I suddenly have this urge to punch a girl I’ve never met?” 

Luka barked a laugh. “As much fun as that might be, you don’t have to do that.”

“But I want to,” Marinette whined. 

“You’re the best, have I told you that?” Luka said affectionately. 

“You can tell me again.”

“Oh I will,” he pitched his voice lower. “Next time I see you.” 

“ _ God _ , Luka, don’t use that voice when I’m at work.” 

He laughed and hung up the phone, grinning like an idiot. 


	24. Rain

Reclining on the couch with Marinette asleep on his chest, Luka heard the thump behind him and craned his head as best he could to see their visitor over the back of the couch. “She said you might stop by,” he commented. “She left you some food on the counter. Just keep your voice down, she was exhausted.” He turned his face away from the bright flash of green light. 

“Thanks,” Adrien said as he passed the couch. Luka returned to the book he was reading, stroking Marinette’s hair lightly with his free hand. After a few minutes, Adrien sat down in front of the couch with his plate of food. “Plagg, Luka,” he introduced, waving his fork toward the hovering cat kwami who glared at Luka over the large wedge of cheese in its flipper-paws. “Luka, this is Plagg. He’s rude to everybody, don’t take it personally.” 

Plagg opened his mouth and swallowed his cheese, then ignored Luka and floated over to where Tikki was curled up on Marinette’s hip, wedging himself down close to her. 

“She said you come a lot when it rains,” Luka said, reaching behind him to put the book on the end table.

Adrien swallowed a mouthful of food and looked down. “It was raining, the day we finally…when I found out. That he was...him.” 

Luka hummed acknowledgement. 

Adrien sighed and leaned his head back against the couch. “You’d think it’d get easier,” he whispered. “But it never seems to.” He lolled his head over to look at Marinette’s sleeping face. “It helps, being near her. When it’s bad. Because she was there and she knows and I don’t have to pretend and I don’t have to explain it. She never wonders if I was working for him, or tries to find out if there were any juicy, preferably kinky secrets he was keeping that I knew about.” He sighed. He scooted over a little, and nudged his head under Marinette’s hand. Luka tensed as she took a deep breath, but she didn’t truly stir, just began stroking Adrien’s hair seemingly in her sleep. “She always knows what I need,” Adrien sighed.

_ What you need is a shit-ton of therapy _ , Luka thought, but all he said was, “Do you still play?”

“Yeah,” Adrien said, glancing at him. “Yeah, I do.”

“You should come over to my place sometime. We could jam. It’d be fun. Might even help you work some things out.”

Adrien made a noncommittal noise, looking down at his nearly empty plate.

Marinette shifted in her sleep, pressing into Luka as she shifted her position higher on him. Luka’s eyes closed for a moment, revelling in the feeling, in her trust, in her small hand coming up to trace his face for a moment for dropping back down to pat Adrien again. Luka threaded his fingers through her hair and pressed his lips softly to the top of her head. Marinette made a small noise and snuggled her face into his neck. 

When he glanced down again, Adrien was watching, stone-faced. He looked away as Luka’s eyes met his. 

“I’m trying,” Adrien muttered, setting his plate on the floor and wrapping his arms around his knees. “It’s hard.”

“I get that,” Luka said softly. “Neither of us would judge you if you needed some space.” 

Adrien shot him a dark look, and Luka sighed, letting his head fall back on the arm of the couch so that he could stare at the ceiling. “I’m trying too, you know,” Luka said after a moment. “This isn’t easy for me either.”

“Yeah,” Adrien grumbled. “You’re just sooo understanding. For now.” 

“I’m gonna get a lot less understanding if you keep being a little shit about it,” Luka huffed. 

“But I’m so good at it,” Adrien joked weakly. “I blame Plagg. They say you become like the five people you hang around the most, and I can’t get away from him.”

Luka chuckled at that. “Maybe you should take Sass back for a while.”

Plagg opened one eye and hissed. Luka couldn’t shrug with Marinette on him, but he raised his eyebrows.

“Just a suggestion,” he said innocently. Adrien snickered.

“So glad that picking on me can be a bonding activity for you,” Plagg drawled, somehow fixing them with a very catlike stare of disdain without actually lifting his head. “Why don’t you both piss off before you actually start to like each other.”

“I do like Adrien,” Luka said, leaning his head back again. 

“You...do?” Adrien blinked, turning around to look at Luka, though it pulled his head away from Marinette’s hand.

Luka turned his head to face him. “Sure. Why wouldn’t I? We were friends before. You seem like a cool enough guy, just...maybe lacking in the chill department. But being a bit dramatic doesn’t make you a horrible person.” He snorted, turning back to the ceiling. “Believe me, I lived with the most dramatic woman on the planet for eighteen years, I can handle a little drama.” 

“Marinette’s not exactly drama-free,” Adrien observed dryly. 

Luka chuckled. “But it’s part of why we love her. She has...flare.”

“That’s one way to put it I suppose.” Adrien sat forward and nudged his head back under Marinette’s hand, folding his arms on the couch and resting his chin on them.

“Is that like, a cat thing?” Luka asked, closing his eyes.

“I dunno,” Adrien answered, sounding a little sleepy. “Just feels good.” There was a pause and then he added, “My mother used to love my hair. Petted me all the time.”

“Mm,” Luka grunted. “That’s nice.” 

He fell asleep before Adrien answered.  _ If _ Adrien answered, with anything other than a quiet snore.


	25. Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter's late, I kind of crashed into real life this week and then I had technology issues and ugh...but everything seems to be working again so here we are! I'm also behind on answering comments and all that stuff, but I'm so happy you're all enjoying this and I hope I can bring it home strong in the next few days. <3

“Hi,” Luka grinned as the Skype call finally connected and Marinette’s image came on the screen, flopped on her belly on her hotel room bed, kicking her feet behind her. “It’s so good to see your face,” he breathed, leaning on his elbows at his small table. “God I miss you. You doing okay?”

“I’m...yeah, I’m okay,” Marinette smiled back with less confidence than he would have liked. “I mean, as long as I’m working, it’s okay, it’s a lot, but I’m managing. But...this part is hard. When I’m just stuck in a hotel room by myself.” 

“I get that,” Luka said sympathetically. It was one of many reasons he felt he wasn’t suited for life on the road. He got melancholy when he was away from the people he loved for too long. “You don’t have to stay in by yourself. I’m sure some of your coworkers would be willing to show you the town.” 

Marinette shrugged slightly, picking at the bedspread. “Some of them would, but...I don’t know, I don’t feel like I can trust them? Not like I trust you and Adrien or Alya or Nino...some of them resent that I have this position so young, I can tell. Maybe someday, but now...”

Luka nodded. “Your instincts are always good, you should trust them. I’m sorry it means you have to be alone though.”

“Well.” Marinette leaned her chin on her fist and gave him an adorable little grin. “I’m not alone anymore. Even if I can’t kiss a computer screen.” 

“Definitely a flaw in the technology,” Luka grinned. “I miss your kisses. Don’t you have a Miraculous way to fix that? Because it’s been days and I gotta tell you—”

“Don’t tell me,” Marinette interrupted, giggling. “I might be tempted. It never works out, using the Miraculous for personal reasons.” She rolled her eyes. “Lame, but true. Otherwise I would totally get Kaalki to zap me over so I could kiss you stupid.” 

“I get stupid just thinking about you, babe,” he told her, voice lowering. “And if you came to see me I’d want to keep you here all night.” 

“Luka!” Marinette put her hands over her face. “Not the voice! Do you  _ want _ me to have to go to bed all frustrated?”

“No, baby, I want you to be absolutely satisfied every time you’re in bed,” Luka told her, only half teasing. “And I definitely want to be the one you’re thinking of while you’re there.”

Marinette gave him a slow smile. “Oh you are.”

Luka’s face exploded in color and he sat up and slapped his hand over it a split second too late. Marinette began to laugh. 

“Ohh, he can dish it out but he can’t take it,” Marinette teased, shifting her shoulder slightly.

“It’s not my fault you grew up and got stupid hot,” Luka grinned, peeking between his fingers. “Don’t think I don’t know you’re flashing that tattoo on me on purpose. Totally unfair, by the way, since I have to stop looking at you  _ and _ half strip to flash mine.” 

“Shame,” Marinette sighed, shifting and propping herself up on her elbow so her tattoo was more prominently in the frame. “I’d love to see it again.” Luka let his hand fall and bit his lip at her expression when something else apparently occurred to her. “That is the only one you have, right?” 

Luka couldn’t have stopped the wicked grin spreading across his face if he tried. 

“Lukaaaaa,” Marinette groaned, dropping her face to the bed.

“Ask me again when you get home,” he said, leaning back on his elbows as his voice went velvety-low again. 

Marinette moaned into the bed, and then sat up, tossing her hair out of her face briskly. “So I hear you’re hanging out with Adrien a lot.” 

“Ugh, mood killer, babe,” Luka laughed, sitting back in his chair. 

“That was the point, you tease.”

Really Luka was slightly relieved at the lightening mood. They’d both been indulging in increasingly... _ charged _ flirting lately that had anticipation and excitement sparking along his nerves, but with her so far away it was definitely a special kind of torture and a guy could only take so much.

Wrenching his mind out of the gutter and back to her question, Luka sighed and leaned his chin on one hand thoughtfully. “Adrien is...Adrien. I don’t know, it’s...been kind of weird? I mean he’s come over a couple times and we jammed and it was fun, and we had lunch once, and he came to one of my gigs—” 

“Yeah, I heard about that one,” Marinette giggled. “I hear he nearly got mobbed.” 

Luka rolled his eyes. “If he’d told me he was coming I would have gotten him into the VIP section and he might have been able to come  _ without _ being almost sexually assaulted.” 

“I’m never letting him live that down,” Marinette giggled. “Going to the club like his half-naked body  _ isn’t _ plastered over half the billboards in Paris.” At Luka’s quirked eyebrow, she raised her own. “What? Nothing actually  _ happened _ so I can still tease him.” She dissolved into giggles again. “You should have heard him when he called me to complain about it. He felt  _ deeply _ put-upon but not traumatized, I promise.” 

“Anyway,” Luka said, shaking his head, “All of that should be great. I mean, I like Adrien well enough, when he’s not being a passive-aggressive little shit or a purposely-obnoxious black cat. He’s cool enough if a little...I don’t know, naive? I mean, I want to be positive that this is a sign he’s getting okay with this,” he gestured between himself and Marinette. “But at the same time I feel like he’s hanging around me almost as a proxy for you. Not in like, a gross way, just...I don’t know. Like he’s just hoping to hear stuff about you.”

Marinette frowned. “But he texts me all the time, why would he need to hear about me from you?” 

Luka shrugged, tracing the wood grain on the table. 

“What is it?” Marinette asked, folding her arms and putting her chin down on them.

Luka sighed. “It’s not anything specific, just...just a feeling. I just...I don’t think Adrien’s very honest with himself?” He hesitated, fingers twitching with the urge to grab his guitar. Feelings were such murky things and words were so...specific, and yet often so inaccurate. “I don’t know how to put this...sometimes being around him feels like being at a performance.” 

Marinette cocked her head at him, waiting for him to go on. Luka tapped his fingers on the table as he thought. “It feels like he’s playing a role, like he’s forgotten that he can be his own person and just...do things spontaneously. And right now, whatever role he’s playing means that he needs to tell himself that he’s okay with us, with letting you go.”

“But you don’t think he is,” Marinette said softly.

Luka shook his head slowly. “I don’t think he is. And he may not even know himself that he’s not. He’s pretty repressed.”

“You can say that five or six more times. Less so when he’s Chat, but...” 

Luka cracked a smile. “But even that’s a role he plays. It’s one he wrote himself, so it’s maybe more honest than the others, but…” Luka shook his head. “I don’t know, like I said, this is all just a feeling I have, I might be way off base and everything is cool. I mean you know him a lot better than I do.” 

“I trust your intuition though,” Marinette said seriously, raising up on her elbows. “If you think something’s going on, you’re probably right. And you’re not wrong about playing a role; I don’t know if Adrien even knows how to be himself anymore after everything he’s been through.” 

Luka shook his head slowly, eyes cast down thoughtfully. “He needs help, Marinette, I hope you realize that. More help than just you, I mean. The kind of stuff he’s been through is enough to mess up anyone.” He lifted his eyes to look at her. “Honestly, you could probably use help too. I mean I know you’ve had a lot more support than he has and you seem like you’re coping, but...you’ve been through a lot. You know I’m here for you, but I’m not a therapist.” 

“Aren’t you?” Marinette teased, but her smile was crooked. “You always seem to have all the answers.” 

Luka snorted. “Not even close. And I didn’t get this way by myself, either. I had help when I needed it, and I’ve been practicing meditation and mindfulness for a long time. Maybe I’m a little more honest with myself than most people at this point, but that doesn’t mean I have all the answers. And, even if I  _ was _ a therapist,” he added gently. “I couldn’t be yours. Not and be your boyfriend, too.” 

Marinette looked down.

“Just...think about it,” Luka told her, leaning forward onto the table again. “You know I love you, and believe me I have no complaints about the way things are between us, I just...I think it would help you.”

Marinette said nothing for a moment, but then a smile grew on her face until Luka felt nearly blinded by it. “You love me?” she said in a tone of quiet awe.

Luka blinked and froze for an instant as he replayed his words in his mind. “That, um, wasn’t how I meant to tell you,” he said slowly, feeling stupid. He smiled. “But, yeah...I do. Absolutely. I love you so much, Marinette, and as happy as I am for you to be chasing your dream, I can’t wait for you to come home.”


	26. Home

Luka sighed. “Adrien, would you  _ please  _ just  _ chill? _ ” 

Adrien sat down almost automatically, but bounced up again before too long, walking down the line of electronic boards with  _ Arrivals _ listed in big letters at the top, with the current ungodly hour listed in the upper corner. Marinette had flat out refused to let her parents to stay up and meet her, but Luka and Adrien were both used to odd hours and both had been determined to be there when Marinette arrived. Both were excited to see her, but Adrien—

“How much coffee did you drink before we left?” Luka wondered.

“A lot,” Adrien answered, still not really paying attention to him. 

Luka sighed again, and then centered himself and tried to focus on his own breathing, determined not to let Adrien’s pacing get to him. 

_ Her plane has to land. She has to disembark. She has to get through customs. She has to get to the baggage claim. _ He closed his eyes and curled his fingers on his knees and breathed, trying not to wish for his guitar. It was hard not having it when he had to wait like this.  _ She’ll get here when she gets here. Impatience won’t change anything. _

Even so, his leg was bouncing when they finally spotted her.

“Marinette,” Adrien breathed, like the word was oxygen to him, and then he was moving toward her, not quite running, but close. Luka stood up but remained where he was, though his eyes stayed glued to her as she accepted Adrien’s hug, and yelped as he lifted her up and swung her around. He waited while she pushed Adrien off and smacked his arm, clearly scolding him though Luka couldn’t quite hear her. 

Then she looked toward Luka, and a smile split his face as their eyes connected. He took his hands out of his pockets and opened his arms, and she ran into them, crashing her body against him. He wrapped her up tightly and curled around her. “Welcome home,” he murmured, and he could feel her relaxing, then tension of the trip ebbing away. 

“I love you,” she sighed, pressing her face into his neck. “I’ve been waiting to say that in person.” 

Luka just held her tighter, and waited until she pushed back from him to loosen his hold. She beamed up at him and he smiled back at her, and she lifted her hands to her face and rose up on her toes and— 

“So Marinette, how many bags do you have?” Adrien asked, and they both looked over at him. He wasn’t looking back at them, his eyes fixed instead on the baggage carousel as it began to rotate. 

“Two,” Marinette answered, hands sliding away from Luka’s face. She gave him an apologetic look and squeezed his arm. Luka waited until her back was turned to roll his eyes, but he meandered along behind her toward the baggage carousel. Luka nudged a hand under the strap of her carryon. 

“May I?” he asked, and at her smile, slipped it from her shoulder and onto his own. 

“How much coffee has he had?” Marinette murmured as Adrien bounced around the baggage carousel, looking for her distinctive pink polka dot bags. 

“Too much,” Luka sighed, slipping his arm around her waist. 

Marinette giggled and looked up at him, and he leaned down to kiss her. He did at least get to kiss her this time, but before it could become anything close to what he wanted it to be, they were cut off by Adrien’s triumphant shout as he saw (so he swore) Marinette’s bags come out of the chute. Marinette just sighed and leaned on Luka, laying her head against him. He moved his arm up around her shoulders and stroked her hair back from her face. 

“Almost there,” he reminded her. “You can rest soon.” 

“I am resting,” Marinette smiled up at him. “It’s good to be home.” 

Luka had to let go of Marinette to accept the bag that Adrien handed him, while Adrien ook the other one and put his hand on Marinette’s arm, asking her questions about her trip as he guided her towards the door. 

“You didn’t bring the van?” Marinette asked, looking at Luka as they waited for Adrien’s driver to pick them up.

Luka shrugged. “Adrien volunteered his car—”

“So we get to ride in style,” Adrien finished for him cheerfully. “Oh, uh...no offense, Luka.”

“None taken,” Luka replied dryly, as Marinette tried to hide her giggle. “A ride’s a ride. I’m just as happy not to have to drive around this place.” 

They loaded the bags in the back and piled into the backseat together, Marinette wedged between the two boys. Luka tried to put his arm around her and ran into Adrien’s as he tried to do the same. “Oh, sorry,” Adrien said hastily, withdrawing his arm and taking Marinette’s hand instead. 

“We’ve got you, babe, just relax,” Luka said, tugging Marinette lightly so that she laid her head on his shoulder. “The hard part’s over, we’ll get you the rest of the way. Take a little nap if you want.”

“I can’t sleep now, or I won’t sleep when I get home,” Marinette sighed, though she did settle into him. 

“Do you need anything to eat?” Luka asked. “We could stop and grab something.”

Marinette shook her head. “I ate on the plane. Packed snacks. And yes,” she cut him off, looking up at him with a twinkle in her eye. “I drank plenty of water and I’m nice and hydrated. Really, I just need to sleep.” 

“Okay,” Luka chuckled. “I’ll stop.”

“Tell us about your trip!” Adrien encouraged.

“It was good,” Marinette sighed. “A lot of work, but really educational. Good networking.” She closed her eyes and smiled. “I think I impressed some people that mattered.” 

“How could you not,” Luka said, just as Adrien enthused, “Of course you did!”

Marinette giggled, squeezing Adrien’s hand and nuzzling Luka’s shoulder. “You guys are the best. I’m so lucky.”

Luka kissed the top of her head and Adrien said, “So are we.” 

They carried Marinette’s bags up the stairs into her apartment and stood by while she fussed over the mess she had left behind. The second the door closed behind them Tikki zipped free, squealing “Home!” and shot straight for her little nest. She was followed by a black streak Luka assumed was Plagg—which proved to be true when Tikki kicked him out of the little nest with a huffed, “No way I’m getting that cheese stink all over my things! We can talk tomorrow after I’ve had some real sleep!”

Adrien snickered and Plagg gave him a death glare before vanishing back into his shirt.

Giggling, Marinette turned to them and smiled warmly, though she was clearly exhausted. “Thanks for picking me up, guys, and for carrying my things. I could’ve handled it but it was nice that I didn’t have to.” 

“Our pleasure,” Luka smiled, reaching out a hand. Marinette smiled, tangling her fingers with his.

“Well, like Tikki said, you guys are tired. We’ll let you get some rest,” Adrien said, grabbing Luka’s arm and tugging. Luka bit back his annoyance and went with Adrien to the door. “We’re really glad to have you back, Mari. Good night!” 

“Good night, Adrien,” Luka said, giving him a quick shove through the door and closing it in his face.

“Luka!” Marinette shrieked, putting her hands over her mouth to muffle her laughter.

Luka turned toward her and hooked his thumbs in his jean pockets. “Sorry, not sorry,” he grinned. He was pretty sure he could hear Plagg cackling through the door. “I get that he doesn’t want to watch and that’s fine, but if he thinks I’m leaving you without a better good night than that after you’ve been gone for weeks, he’s been hitting the catnip too hard. C’mere.” 

“You’re secretly evil,” Marinette said, coming to him and sliding her arms around his neck as he grabbed her waist and pulled her close. “I love it.”

“I love you,” Luka said, nudging her nose with his. “And I missed you like hell. And I’m definitely not leaving here until I’ve kissed you senseless, so—” He was cut off by Marinette’s lips on his. 

“Then get to it,” Marinette giggled against his lips. 

When he finally did leave, lips bruised and hair ruffled, he was surprised to find Adrien waiting on the stairs. “I’m your ride,” Adrien shrugged. “I couldn’t just ditch you. She was so tired, I didn’t expect you to take this long.”

“Uh...sure,” Luka said, raising his eyebrows slightly. “You didn’t have to wait, though, I could’ve made it home on my own.”

Adrien sighed gustily, turning and starting down the stairs. “Let’s just go.”

Luka sighed, following him. Sometimes it really sucked to be right.


	27. Surprise

Luka was...frustrated. Not angry, not yet, but honestly, he was getting there. 

“It’s not that I mind spending time with him,” he grumbled softly to Marinette while Adrien was the kitchen. “And I don’t mind _you_ spending time with him. I just don’t need him here _all_ the time.” He nudged Marinette’s temple with his nose and she snuggled a little closer to his side. “I want to spend time with you. Quality time. _Adrien-free time._ ”

“I know,” Marinette sighed, “He’s being kind of oblivious.”

Luka shook his head. Adrien was really good at feigning cluelessness but Luka wasn’t buying it anymore. It wasn’t coincidence that Adrien or Chat kept crashing his date nights with Marinette. It wasn’t cluelessness that made Adrien ignore all the hints that were growing steadily less delicate. Adrien was much too good at popping up at exactly the right time to spoil the moment and Luka simply didn’t believe that it was just a combination of coincidence and social ineptitude any more.

“It’s not obliviousness,” Luka muttered. “He wasn’t around this much before he knew we were dating.”

“I had more free time then,” Marinette defended him. “Of course there’s more overlap now.”

Luka raised his eyebrows, and bent down to kiss her. 

“Snacks are ready!” Adrien said brightly as he popped out of the kitchen before their lips could connect. Luka sighed, straightening, and gave Marinette a pointed look. She bit her lip and hunched her shoulders, bobbing her head in an “okay, yeah, I get it,” gesture. Luka rubbed his hand comfortingly over her back, though his jaw was tight. 

“You could just kiss me anyway,” she popped up on her toes to whisper to him when Adrien’s back was turned. 

“I’m frustrated, not cruel,” Luka sighed again. “There must be a reason he’s doing this, even if he doesn’t really know what it is. I’m not looking to traumatize him.” And frankly, Luka wanted a lot more than just one simple kiss. He just wasn’t that much of an exhibitionist, to enjoy making out with an audience. Particularly one that had very effective kitten eyes and a well-practiced heartbroken expression.

Luka’s sympathies only extended so far, however. He didn’t think it was too much to ask to be able to kiss his girlfriend above once a week. He dropped the subject, though, not wanting to stress Marinette out about something that wasn’t her fault. He thought about their collective schedules for the next week and started making plans for some guaranteed alone time. 

Adrien had a party he had to go to that would last late into the night. Luka begged a friend to cover for him at the gig he was supposed to be playing and when he showed up at her door with takeout and a smug grin, Marinette eagerly put her work aside for the night. Finally, finally they were going to spend an evening together free of...distractions. The Adrien problem could be dealt with later. Tonight was just for them.

Or so Luka thought.

Ostensibly, they were watching a movie, but neither of them had looked at the screen in some time and Luka had lost all track of anything but Marinette’s mouth and Marinette’s hands and Marinette’s smooth skin and hard muscles under his own hands and Marinette’s body pressed deliciously against him.

Suddenly she broke their kiss and pulled away. Luka leaned up trying to follow her, but his moan of protest turned into something else as she planted her hands on his bare chest and pushed up to look at him, shifting her weight in a way that felt _really_ good. He bit his lip and blinked up at her hazily, making an effort to kick his higher functions back into gear. 

“Um,” she said, breathlessly, pushing her hair out of her face as he had pulled her elastics out long ago. The sight of her flushed cheeks and her gorgeous eyes with the pupils blown wide and dark with desire sent a jolt like lightning through him and it was work to concentrate on her words. “Do you want to—” 

Marinette stopped suddenly, her head whipping around to look over the back of the couch. 

_Want to what?_ Luka’s mind screamed, his fingers digging into the bare skin of her waist where he gripped under her shirt.

Her next words killed the mood more effectively than a bucket of icewater.

“Chat,” she hissed. “ _Not a good time_.” 

“Aw, c’mon, Princess, you’ve seen this movie like a dozen times—” 

Luka growled and put his hands over his face. “Does he ever just use the door?” he grumbled as Marinette got off of him. 

“Oh,” he heard Chat say. 

“Oh,” Luka mimicked, pushing himself up to glare over the back of the couch. “Look, I’m a chill guy, Chat, but this is getting to be _a bit fucking much_.”

“It’s clearly fucking something,” Chat muttered, folding his arms as he dropped his transformation. Adrien shot Marinette a look full of judgement that just pissed Luka off even more. 

She flushed, straightening the shirt that Luka had hiked up to her ribs. “We were just—“

“No, no, hang on,” Luka said, rolling off the couch and grabbing his shirt from the floor. He stepped between Marinette and Chat, pulling his shirt back on. “No, you don’t get to make her feel bad about this. She’s an adult and she can do what she wants with whoever she wants and it’s absolutely none of your business. You don’t get to barge into her home and judge her for something that has _nothing_ to do with you. What the hell is your problem, Adrien? How is it that you decide to show up every time we get—”

“Horny?” Adrien sneered, cutting him off.

Luka raised his hands and his eyebrows, refusing to feel bad about it. “I was gonna say ‘close’ but the point stands, Adrien.”

“I just don’t want to waste her time with a loser musician with no ambition, no money, no future, and no _staying power_ ,” Adrien snapped. 

“Wow,” Luka said, deadly quiet. “So that’s how it is.”

“That’s how it is.”

“Adrien,” Marinette began, outraged, but Luka cut her off.

“No, wait.” Luka barely moved a muscle but his eyes cut towards her. “Please. I want to hear what he has to say.” He folded his arms and looked back at Adrien. The fire building in his chest was rising, but he smiled pleasantly and kept his voice calm, if cold. “Please, continue. We’ll just ignore for now the fact that you have no right to decide something like that for her. Just tell me how it is, Adrien. Since you see things so clearly,” he mocked. 

Adrien’s face went red with rage. “You think you’re so special because you figured out who she is? You know what you are? You’re _temporary_ . Just a _temporary_ boyfriend like you were a _temporary_ hero. _I’m_ the one who’s always been here. I’ve been by her side from the beginning and I’m going to be the one who’s here after you walk away, just like you did last time.”

Luka began to laugh as Marinette cried, “That’s not what happened!”

Adrien scowled, ignoring Marinette to keep his stare on Luka. “You think this is funny? Have you ever taken anything seriously in your life?”

“Plenty of things,” Luka said with a slight shrug. “Just not you. How anybody could take you seriously is a complete mystery to me, honestly. For someone so smart you’re sure good at playing dumb. You want to know what _I_ see? I see a pretty rich boy who’s never bothered to face up to his mistakes, and gets away with it because he’s so tragic that no one will call him out. I see someone who’s had girls falling all over him for years while the rest of us were learning how to take rejection gracefully. I see someone who jerked around a lot of nice girls because he got hung up on the one he couldn’t have. Except, oh, wait, Adrien Agreste can have anybody he wants, so surely no only means not right now, right?” His eyes narrowed. “So no, I don’t take you seriously, other than you being a serious pain in my ass, and if I hadn’t promised Marinette I wouldn’t fight you in her house I’d return the favor.”

“You want to take it outside, let’s go,” Adrien hissed. 

“Adrien, don’t be stupid,” Marinette snapped. “Luka, what the hell is wrong with you?” 

The boys ignored her, intent on their standoff. 

“Actually,” Luka said, “That’s fine with me. Let’s go.”

Marinette whirled to look at him. “What? Luka!”

Luka just looked at her, arms still folded. “Can I borrow Sass, please?” He looked at Adrien. “We’ll do this suited up or not at all. I’m not getting arrested for messing up your pretty face.” Not to mention he needed his hands intact and bloodied or broken knuckles would make life challenging for him.

“Fine by me,” Adrien scowled. “Plagg, eat your damn cheese.” He tossed a hunk of camembert in the kwami’s general direction without breaking the staredown. 

“Luka have you lost your mind?” Marinette hissed.

“No,” he smiled tightly at her. “Just my patience. I haven’t been this pissed off in _years_. Sorry, babe, I did my best, but even I have my limits.”

“This isn’t going to accomplish anything,” Marinette groaned, grabbing his arm. She pointed at Adrien. “You stay here.” Without waiting for an answer, she propelled Luka ahead of her into what turned out to be her bedroom. “I can’t believe you’re doing this,” she grumbled, wrenching open her closet doors. 

Luka took a deep breath and unfolded his arms slowly, willing himself not to take his anger out on her. 

“Marinette, I know that you guys have to settle things between you on your own, but I’m still a human being and there’s only so much I can take. I did promise not to fight him in your house, but if he’s going to offer me a chance to punch him in the face somewhere else, I’m not going to say no.” He gave her a lopsided smile as she turned around, bracelet in hand. “I know it’s stupid. I know he’s been a full-time hero for years and maybe I don’t stand a chance, but frankly, I really need to hit something and he’s volunteering. It won’t be the first fight I’ve lost and he won’t be the first winner who regrets baiting me.” He softened a little at her worried expression. “Don’t worry. The suits will keep us from hurting each other too badly. Maybe we need this, I don’t know. I’ll admit I’m not exactly thinking clearly at the moment.” He held out his hand.

Marinette growled, but dropped the bracelet in his hand. Luka slipped it on and Sass flared into existence. The snake kwami took one look at Luka’s face...and laughed, baring his fangs. “It isss to be war, then, isss it? Tikki warned me.” 

“You’re okay with this?” Marinette demanded, throwing up her hands. Tikki, who had made herself scarce when the kissing started, flew to cuddle into her chosen’s neck, whispering encouragement.

Sass just shrugged. “Humansss will be humansss. It is not the firssst time. And let usss jussst sssay, I do owe Plagg’sss chosssen sssome long-overdue payback.” He flew to give Marinette a swift cheek cuddle. “Do not worry, Guardian. We will protect them.” He looked at Luka. “No sssecond chance, though. Twisssting the power of time for onesss own purpossse is a dangerous road. One you would be wise not to ssstep down.” 

“Agreed. Glad you’re on board, buddy,” Luka said, sharing a fist/flipper bump with his friend. “I promise not to make too much of a mess.” 

He looked back at Marinette, who still looked very upset. Luka stepped toward her and smoothed her hair back, making her look up at him. “Listen, I know you don’t like this, and I don’t blame you. I know it’s upsetting and scary. But it’s going to be okay, one way or the other. I’ll come right back as soon as we’re done.” He kissed her forehead. “This just isn’t something you can fix, okay? I’m not asking you to take sides, and nothing that happens tonight will mean anything for you and me, okay? I still love you, I still want to be with you, and once we’re done kicking the crap out of each other, we’re all going to work this out.” He sighed. “Somehow.” 

Marinette sighed and leaned into him, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing so tightly his ribs creaked. “Don’t do anything stupid. Either one of you.”

“No promises,” Luka chuckled darkly. “My track record’s already not great tonight. Ready, Sass?” 

Intellectually, he knew his odds weren’t great, and the part of him that knew he was being stupid was cringing at bringing up an ugliness in himself that he’d thought he’d put to rest for good.

But when it came down to it, as he’d told Marinette...he just _really_ needed to hit something.

Viperion stepped out of Marinette’s bedroom alone. He looked at Chat, standing in the middle of the room, and jerked his head toward a window. “Let’s go.”


	28. Free

Once out of the window and away from the need to placate and calm Marinette, Viperion’s anger swelled, fed by the last few weeks of frustration and, if he was honest, maybe some unresolved feelings from long ago. He’d never resented Adrien for having Marinette’s heart but he  _ had _ been frequently irritated by Adrien’s determination to ignore those feelings instead of addressing them. Adrien hadn’t appreciated what he had back then. True, he was just a kid, but to treat her so casually back then and then to act like he had a right to her now? Why, because he found out she was Ladybug? It rubbed Luka the wrong way. Adrien was going to find his spine tonight and start dealing with his problems like an adult even if Luka had to rip it out and beat him with it.

Viperion made the last leap onto the rooftop Chat had chosen and prowled forward. “Let’s get this straight, Chat,” Viperion said, and he was oddly satisfied at the half-step back Chat took. Maybe the cat wasn’t as confident as he acted. Or maybe Viperion just looked that pissed. “This is not a movie and you are not the leading man and what happens on this roof is going to change jack all between Marinette and me or Marinette and you. When I’m done kicking the shit out of you, you can go back and let Marinette have her turn. But I’m tired of your macho hero complex toxic  _ bullshit  _ and I’m not going to take it anymore.” He took his lyre off and chucked it to the side of the roof, still advancing. 

“Big talk from someone who hasn’t worn the suit in years,” Chat sneered, tossing his baton over to clang against the lyre’s strings and taking a ready stance. 

Viperion’s movement was just a blur as he hauled back and punched Chat in the face with the speed of a striking cobra. Luka might not be as experienced but he knew how to play to his strengths. The cat was agile but the snake was  _ fast.  _ “Big talk is your specialty, alleycat,” he remarked, pacing in a circle while Chat shook his head and picked himself up off the pavement. “Maybe if you’d shut your mouth once in a while those cat ears would actually do you some good. Or are you just selectively deaf to the word no?”

Chat rushed him with a growl; Viperion dodged, and it was a few tense moments before either one of them landed a hit. This time Viperion’s speed wasn’t enough and he hit the ground. He rolled up to his feet, grimacing as he put a hand to his side. Chat certainly wasn’t holding back.

That was just fine by Viperion.

“You don’t know anything,” Chat snapped. “I’ve loved her for years! I’ve been in love with her since the day we met!”

Viperion snorted. “Half of her. The other half you couldn’t even see.”

“They’re the same person!” Chat cried, with enough frustration that Viperion knew Marinette had used the same argument. The punch Chat threw was wild but Chat still dodged Viperion’s return blow. “I couldn’t love Marinette because I was in love with Ladybug! You don’t fall in love and then just change your mind!”

Viperion rolled his eyes. “Here’s a tip, Chat.” He struck and barely clipped Chat’s chin. “If the lady you want says no, you are, in fact, encouraged to change your mind.” Chat growled and Viperion took a boot to the gut for that one. He grabbed the boot and swung a leg up. Chat went rolling across the rooftop and bounced up to his feet, not even winded. Viperion took a deep breath and backed up a bit. 

“She never even gave me a chance!” Chat cried, waving his arms in frustration. “She wouldn’t even let me show her what we could be together! She’s my other half! No matter how happy she thinks she is now, she’d be happier with me because that’s what was meant to be! We’re made for each other and she won’t even try! And after all this time you think you can just walk in and take her from me? Just because I believed her when she set me up to fail?” 

“Do you even hear yourself?” Viperion demanded in disgust. “ _ She’s not yours. _ Do you know her at all? Do you  _ honestly _ think so little of her? That she would refuse you out of what, spite? Stubbornness? Chat, she gave you a chance,  _ years ago _ . You  _ didn’t see her _ .” 

“She made sure I couldn’t!” Chat cried. “It’s not like with you. She  _ tried _ to hide from me. She can’t hold it against me that it worked!”

“Why, Chat?” Viperion asked him acidly, taking a step forward before falling into the snake kung fu stance that came instinctively when he was in the suit. “Why did she have to try to hide from you? Did you ever think for a moment that it was because you wouldn’t stop looking even after she asked you to?”

Chat growled and rushed him, and for a moment there was no breath or energy for anything the fight. They went down to the rooftop, Viperion pinned beneath Chat until he finally got his feet up between them and shoved Chat off. 

“She’ll figure it out,” Chat panted as he rolled up to his feet. “She’s my other half, she loved me once, she just has to remember. She’s too good for a half-assed musician who’s happy playing back-alley bars. She’s a designer, I’m a model. Hell, I own a fashion  _ empire _ . I can open doors for her, I can give her anything she wants.” 

“You  _ blind _ ,  _ petty, egotistical, privileged little snot, _ ” Viperion snarled, losing his temper completely as he struck with blinding speed, taking Chat off guard for a moment. He got in a few good hits before the cat twisted away, putting more distance between them. Chat was the one holding his side this time, slightly bent over. “Her other half?” Viperion continued, breathing hard. “Don’t make me laugh. You can’t even hope to measure up to her, not as a hero, not as a person!”

“I love her,” Chat bellowed, taking a step forward, frustration in every line of his body.

“You know what, I believe that,” Viperion snapped. “But if this is what you think love looks like,  _ I feel sorry for you.”  _ And with those words, Viperion’s anger suddenly drained out of him, leaving him feeling tired and sore and honestly just as frustrated before. He sighed and took a step back, coming out of his combative stance. He looked at Chat and saw the neglected little boy who’d never been shown what real love looked like, and had been so busy chasing a dream that he had missed out on the kind of love you could hold and cherish. Viperion ran the fingers of both hands through his hair and made a frustrated noise, and then dropped his hands and sighed.

“I do, Chat. I feel sorry for you,” Viperion said. “The thing is, love is not a cage.” Chat reared back like he’d been slapped. “Even if all that destiny stuff you’re talking about was true, and I don’t think even you really believe it at this point, it’s still Marinette’s choice. It’s her right to choose a lesser happiness if she wants. Love is not a trap that you can’t escape from, and yes, you protect the people you love, but not by taking away their choices, Chat. You know what that feels like.” He paused, but Chat said nothing, still frozen, breathing hard. “Love is not saying you know better than your partner what they need. That’s not love, Chat, that’s control. Is that really what you want for her? To lock her in an ivory tower like your father did for you and make all her choices for her? Decide who she’s allowed to see and what she’s allowed to do?” 

“No!” Chat cried, digging his hands into his hair. ”No, that’s not what I meant!”

“I know,” Viperion said quietly. “You’re not your father. You’re not that kind of asshole.” He grinned sardonically. “But that’s what you’ve been trying to do every time you get in between her and me. You’re taking away her choices. You don’t have to be a controlling, manipulative abuser to be an  _ annoying pain in the ass _ , Chat. Did you enjoy shooting Chloe down, over and over again, for years?”

Chat winced. “No. I hated it, every time. I don’t know why she couldn’t just—” he stopped abruptly.

“Uh-huh,” Viperion took a few steps towards him. “And did you sometimes let her push your boundaries more than you should have because she was your friend and you didn’t want to hurt her feelings?”

Chat winced again, rubbing one arm with the opposite hand, like he could still feel Chloe clinging to him.

Viperion nodded. “It sucks when someone won’t hear no, Chat. It makes it hard to keep a relationship going when you’re constantly stumbling over that no.“

Chat Noir seemed to vibrate in place for a minute, his frustration palpable. “Then what am I supposed to do?” he cried, throwing his hands up, voice cracking. “If I can’t fight for her then what the hell am I supposed to do? Just silently pine for her forever?”

“Definitely not,” Viperion responded, as patiently as he could. He folded his arms. “For one thing, she’d know, you’re not that good at hiding it, and I think the past couple of weeks have proved you can’t keep it up for long. For another, it’s not healthy for  _ you _ . Let her go, Chat. That’s all you can do at this point.”

Chat’s cat ears lowered and his shoulders dropped, the fight clearly going out of him at last. 

“How can I?” he sighed gustily, turning to lean his hands on the ledge of the roof. “I’ve been in love with her for so long. I passed up so many great girls because I was waiting for her. Not just Marinette—Kagami too, and so many other girls that just—couldn’t measure up. And now you want— _ she _ wants me to just move on, like none of that ever happened? How do I even start? It didn’t work out so great every other time I tried.”

He flinched as Viperion moved toward him, but Viperion just put his hand on Chat’s shoulder. “There’s this thing called closure, Chat,” Viperion said with a half-smile. “Go get some. She’ll talk to you if you stop being an ass about it. Maybe you’ll get some answers about why things turned out this way, and maybe you won’t. But you’ll  _ know _ . And you’ll grieve. And  _ then _ you’ll move on.” 

“To what?” Chat snorted, turning his back to the ledge and folding his arms as he leaned on it. “What’s left? Kagami’s in Japan, Chloe’s in America, Rochelle won’t even speak to me anymore after the fiasco in Milan—”

Viperion winced; even he had heard about that one thanks to the tabloids. “Yeah, we maybe should talk about how to break up with a girl in a way that  _ won’t  _ spark an international incident.”

“You see what I mean though?” Chat said miserably. “I thought Ladybug was it, the one person who could understand me, but now even she doesn’t want me. Am I just going to be alone forever?”

Viperion scoffed. “Stop being so dramatic. You’re only what, twenty-two? There’s a ton of life out there that you haven’t experienced. There’s amazing people that you haven’t even met. Stop pinning your happiness on someone else and go find it for yourself. Find someone that loves you for who you are inside, and not because some Cosmic Will decided to make it so. But first, find a damned therapist and get rid of all this baggage your dad saddled you with.” There was sympathy in Viperion’s voice as he tried to look into Chat’s cat eyes. Chat turned his head away.

Viperion sighed. “I hear what you’re saying, you pinned all your hopes on this and I get that it’s hard. I know you’ve invested a lot of time and a lot of emotional energy and that’s hard to let go of. I believe your feelings are sincere, I really do. But Chat, you need to do some work on yourself before you start looking for someone else to be your other half. You’re young and you’re rich and you’re good looking and yeah, you’ve got some baggage, but somehow in spite of all that, you manage to be a mostly good guy. You’re going to find someone else if that kind of relationship is truly what you want. The thing is, if you want to keep Marinette in your life at all, you’ve got to let Ladybug go, or eventually she’ll get fed up and stop wanting to see you at all because she just doesn’t want to have to shoot you down yet again.” He paused. “I know it doesn’t feel like it right now, but this is a good thing. You’ve let yourself be tied up in this too long. Marinette’s not shooting you down, she’s setting you free.”

“Why should I listen to you?” Chat grumbled. “You’re the one who’s got her. Why would you want to help me?”

“Because I love her and I want her to be happy, and this thing with you is killing her inside, maybe just as much as you,” Viperion told him. “You two  _ are _ a part of each other, even if it’s not the way you want. She’s tearing herself up about it and she won’t talk to me,  _ really _ talk about it, because she feels like she’s betraying you. She might not be in love with you but she cares about you. And because I’ve been the guy that had to let go, and I know that nothing gets better until you do. Chat, we were friends once. I’d like to think we still are. Sometimes being friends means calling each other out on our bullshit.” The corner of Viperion’s mouth quirked up. “Speaking of which, what has Nino had to say about all this?” 

Chat growled and looked away. “Shut up.” 

“Mmhm, that’s what I thought,” Viperion chuckled. “Look, I understand if you don’t want to talk to me. Just, talk to Nino again. I know you can’t tell him all the Miraculous stuff, but you can still tell him the relationship stuff. See if he says what I’m saying. And I’m serious about finding a therapist, Chat. You needed one even before all that Hawkmoth crap went down.”

“Don’t,” Chat said quickly, burying his hands in his hair and squeezing his eyes shut.

“Okay,” Viperion said gently. “Sorry. Listen, I’m going to go back and drop Sass off, and then I’ll go back to my place. Stay out here until you get your head on straight, and then go talk to Marinette. Don’t leave it like this, okay? It might be too late for romance but it’s not too late to fix your friendship. Just...before you go back, think about this: you’re free of your father. You’re a grown man, you have plenty of money, good connections. You can do whatever you want. What would you do, if this wasn’t holding you back anymore? If you could take the love and support Marinette offers you and let her be the friend she wants to be for you, what would you do with that backing you? What would  _ you _ want to do? Because I want you to know that both of us will be there for you, whatever that is.” Viperion sighed. “Assuming she doesn’t kill us both for pulling this in the first place, seeing as how she’s had all this time to sit around stewing about how stupid we’re being. I’m honestly surprised she hasn’t followed us out here to kick both our asses by now.”

Chat’s eyes widened. “Oh, shit,” he breathed. “She  _ is _ gonna kill me.” He put his head in his hands and whined. “Oh my God, did I really just do that? Am I even going to live long enough to apologize?” 

Viperion chuckled weakly. “I’m not sure how much pull I have just at the moment, but I’ll put in a good word for you.” 

Chat sighed, and dragged his hands down his face. “Luka,” he said, very quietly. “I’m...really sorry. For the things I said.”

“Yeah, me too,” Viperion sighed. “Come here, dumbass.” He leaned over and wrapped his arms around Chat, pulling him into a hug. “You’re an idiot and you make bad choices sometimes,” he said quietly as Chat stiffened. “Sometimes you  _ are _ a petty, egotistical little snot. But you’re not a bad person, you’re not alone, and it’s not too late to get help. Okay?” 

Chat stood stiffly for a moment, and then leaned into him, lifting one hand to place on his arm. “Okay. Hey!” he protested weakly as Viperion ruffled his hair. 

“Always wanted to do that,” Viperion grinned. “You’re so fluffy.” 

“Kiss my ass, snake,” Chat grumbled. 

“No thanks. Got better options.” Viperion winked, and went to get his lyre. “All right, time for me to face the music. I’ll tell her to expect you a little later.” He picked up Chat’s baton. “And Chat, just so we’re clear, as long as you’re trying I’m willing to work with you. But if you start making Marinette unhappy, we’ll be right back here for a rematch, understand?” He tossed Chat’s baton.

“Yeah, I got it,” Chat said, catching it. “By the way,” Chat added, reaching up to touch his jaw. “Nice hook.” 

Viperion grinned, and launched himself off the roof, hoping Chat didn’t notice the way he fumbled on the landing and grabbed his ribs. “Oh, that’s going to hurt in the morning,” he muttered. Then he sighed, running for the next roof. “Worth it,” he gasped before he made the next leap. 


	29. Nadir

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be the last chapter, but it's not. Surprise! It was as surprise for me too. I had something all ready to go and then in the end I just wasn't happy with it, and I had to sit down and figure out what was wrong. So, sorry this chapter is a little delayed, and there will be one more either tonight or tomorrow. I just felt like this conversation needed to happen, and when I tried to gloss over it, the story just didn't work.

By the time Viperion landed on Marinette’s balcony, he was feeling every hit Chat had landed, as well as the emotional toll of so many ups and downs in a short time. 

Marinette rushed into his arms, and he jolted back, grimacing. “Sorry. Bruised ribs, I think.” 

“Idiot,” Marinette muttered, standing back to look at him and run her hands across the suit that she must know was undamaged. 

“I’m fine, Marinette,” Viperion assured her, pushing her hands lightly away. “Chat too. We’ll both be sore but we’re okay.” He flinched again as Marinette smacked him over the head. 

“Asshole!” she hissed. 

Luka’s lips tightened but he did his best to keep his tone even. “I don’t really think I deserved that,” he said, dropping his transformation and catching Sass in his hands. He carried the kwami over the to the table, where Marinette had already set out food for him. Tikki lighted next to him as Sass sat on the table and began to eat, watching the humans with his slit snake eyes. 

“Well, name calling and violence seems to be how we’re dealing with our problems today so I thought I should get a turn!” Marinette threw her hands in the air. “What is the matter with you? This isn’t like you, Luka. I thought you were better than this.” 

“I’ve been better than this for weeks, Marinette,” Luka replied bluntly, too tired to be gentle. “I’ve tried talking to him.  _ You’ve _ tried talking to him—or at least, you tried yelling at him. I’ve tried to be patient and let him work things out but there’s only so much I can take. Hell, I put my professional reputation at risk so that we could have  _ one night _ to ourselves. Excuse me if I’m a little bit _ fucking put out _ .” He paused and took a deep breath, closing his eyes. He was so exhausted. 

“I can’t believe you thought going out there and fighting him over me like this is some—some stupid cowboy movie brawl where I’m the saloon wench fainting in the corner was the right thing to do!’”

Luka made a face. “Ouch, Marinette. Cowboy movies, really? As if we don’t all know you’d be the saloon wench breaking a vase over the villain's head in the middle of a fight.” She sputtered, and he sighed. “Come on, can you cut me some slack? It wasn’t like that and you know it, you know  _ me _ better than that. I thought you did, at least.”

“I—” Marinette stopped, and had the grace to look ashamed when Luka glanced back at her.

“Look,” he sighed. “I’m only human. I have my limits. Was a fight the best way to handle things tonight? Maybe not. Was I maybe a little more ready to hit something than I would have been because I was  _ really _ enjoying myself before he barged in, yet again? Probably. Barged in on a night, may I remind you, where we were  _ both _ supposed to be somewhere else, meaning he was basically sneaking behind my back to hang out with my girlfriend, which I think is just a little more deserving of a punch to the face than me sneaking behind  _ his _ back to see  _ my own  _ girlfriend.” His volume was rising with every word as his temper began to get the better of him. “I’m not trying to give you some gross  _ I have needs _ speech but I don’t think it’s too much to fucking ask for Adrien not to be a factor in how often I get to kiss you or whether we mutually decide to do a little more than kissing!” He paused, throttling down his irritation as best he could, and taking a couple of deep breaths as Marinette stared at him, her mouth half-open. His voice was back to its normal tones when he spoke again. “Turn it around, Marinette; if it was one of  _ my _ old crushes getting between us, how would you feel? How long could you just laugh it off?” He grinned faintly. “Let me remind you, you wanted to punch Elaine in the face just because she wasn’t the most supportive girlfriend and you haven’t even met her.” 

Marinette blushed, and pouted. “Yeah but...that’s me. And you’re...you.” 

“I’m me,” he agreed quietly. “I’m the one who’s always expected to compromise, to let it go and be the bigger person and take the high road—” Marinette flinched. “—because Luka’s so laid back, nothing really bothers him, so we’ll just put it on him to bend because he’s the most flexible. This isn’t the first time it’s happened and you’re not the first person to do it without realizing it. But it does bother me and it’s not really fair, Marinette.” 

For a moment she just stared at him. Then she sank down onto the couch and looked at the floor. 

“You’re right,” she said in a small voice. “I didn’t really think of it that way. I’m sorry.” 

Luka sighed and sat down next to her, putting a hand to his sore ribs. “Don’t put me on a pedestal,” he warned her. “I’m as human as you are, as human as Adrien is. I can be petty and lose my temper and lash out. I need you to be okay with that because it’s going to happen sometimes. I need to know you’ll have my back and help me get through it, and not just get upset because I’m not as cool and unflappable as you thought I was.” 

Marinette looked at her hands and then raised her eyes to his and nodded. “I’m sorry. You’re right. Any other guy would have snapped long ago and it was unfair of me to expect you to just put up with it forever. I thought it would get better, that he would sort of get used to things and—but you’re right, I should have said something seriously to him earlier. I should have learned a long time ago that just snapping at him and then letting it go doesn’t change anything.”

Luka nodded his acceptance. “So now we just have to find the way forward.” He sighed. “And a good start would be you and Chat having an honest talk.” Marinette looked surprised, and Luka smirked faintly at the look on her face. “What, did you think I was going to run him off? I told you it wasn’t like that.” 

“I—I know, but…” 

“We weren’t  _ just  _ fighting, we had plenty to say too, believe me. Honestly I dropped a couple of bombs on him tonight and I think he might be in a good place to listen right now. He was going to take some time to get his head together and then come back here to talk to you. I’m not going to tell you not to yell at him, but...say the important stuff first, while he’s still open-minded. If you just get mad, he’ll get defensive.” He sighed. “And now I’m exhausted and I really just want to go home. I’m sorry our night didn’t turn out like I planned.” 

Marinette leaned forward and put her arms around his neck, a little tentatively. “No, _ I’m  _ sorry,” she said. “I’m really sorry, Luka. I’m sorry for putting unfair expectations on you and for letting things get so bad you felt like you had to resort to giving up a gig to see me.” 

It was a moment before Luka could make himself slide his arms around her waist and pull her closer. “Yeah, I really can’t do that again. So let’s work on solving the problem together, okay?” 

“I love you,” Marinette said, a little hesitantly, pulling back to search his eyes.

“I love you too,” he told her, meeting her gaze steadily. “And we’ll get through this. If you want to. Do you still want to?”

“Yes,” she nodded. 

“Okay. Me too. So let’s just leave it here and talk about it again when we’re both in a better place.” He curled his finger under her chin to tilt her face up and kissed her softly. “I’m heading out, and you should expect a visitor soon.” Sass flew over from the table to give him a cuddle and a quiet word of encouragement. Luka returned the bracelet to Marinette a little sadly. “It’s stupid how much I miss that little guy,” he sighed, once Sass had vanished. 

“You can always see him,” Marinette told him, laying a hand on his arm. “I can’t—it’s not that I don’t trust you, but—I can’t let you keep him yet. Maybe someday, if we—but anytime you’re here and you want to see him, let me know.”

Luka managed a smile. “Thanks for that. That would mean a lot to me.” 

Marinette smiled and kissed his cheek. Luka smoothed his hand over her hair, breathing a deep sigh. 

In the silence between them the thud on the balcony, though rather subdued, was clearly audible.

“That’s my cue,” Luka sighed, standing up. “I’ll let you guys talk.” 

Marinette nodded, watching him nervously as he went to the door.

The drive home felt like it took forever. As soon as he entered his small apartment he took some painkillers and crawled into bed, sore in more ways than one.  _ It’ll get better from here _ , he thought to himself before he drifted off.  _ I have to believe that. _


	30. Leap

Luka was smiling as he jogged up the stairs to Marinette’s apartment, even though he knew she’d had a hard day. Adrien’s therapist had asked Marinette to join them for today’s session and Luka was fully prepared for her to be tired and upset.

Even so, he felt light as he knocked on the door. Things really had gotten better after the night they all had it out, and though pain still happened, it was healing pain, and easily forgiven.

“Hey,” he smiled sympathetically as Marinette opened the door. Her eyes were puffy and there were tear tracks on her face. That wasn’t really unexpected, but it was still hard to see. He came inside at her invitation and put the takeout bag down, opening his arms to her. She came into them and sighed, relaxing into him almost at once. It gave Luka a warm feeling. He held her tightly and rubbed her back with slow, firm strokes. “Do you want to talk, or…?” 

“God, no,” Marinette sighed, nosing her way to press her face against her favorite spot against his neck. Her voice sounded a little rough. “I’ve done so much talking today.”

“Okay,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “I won’t make you talk about it, but can you just let me know how it went? Good, bad, a little of both?”

“Good,” Marinette said thoughtfully. “Hard, but good. I think it was worth it. And I like Adrien’s therapist, she seemed like the right balance of being sympathetic without letting him get away with anything.” 

“That’s good.” 

It had taken a couple of tries to find the right therapist for Adrien.They’d all agreed Adrien would be best off with someone who understood the additional pressures that came with fame, but the therapists who dealt regularly with celebrities were a very mixed group, and it took a while to purge the list of pill-pushers and highly-paid enablers. 

After that, it took a few visits with different options before Adrien settled on someone he trusted to both give him sound advice and not leak all the sordid details to the tabloids. Luka was glad to hear that Marinette approved.

“She wants me to come back next week,” Marinette sighed, sounding anything but enthused. “Talk about a few more things.”

“I’m sure it’d be okay if you’d rather wait another week. I’m sure she’ll understand. You’re not her patient, she can’t tell you what to do.” 

"No, I think I’d rather just get it over with,” she mumbled. “Assuming  _ my _ therapist agrees.” 

“I think that’s a good choice and a smart qualification,” Luka agreed. “But it’s all over for now, so we don’t have to talk about it anymore. I can see you’re tapped out. Is there anything you have to get done tonight?”

“No,” she said, finally lifting her head to smile at him. “I wanted to spend time with you. Just with you, no distractions. I knew I’d be useless for work after the session anyway so I made sure I got everything done before. We can just focus on us tonight.” 

“That’s music to my ears,” Luka smiled, touched. “Thank you.” 

“It’s overdue,” she said, hugging him close again. “I’m sorry about that.”

Luka shook his head. “You’ve been doing your best, I can tell. I appreciate that, by the way, you making the effort to make time for us. I know you’ve still got a lot on your plate and it means a lot.” 

Marinette just snuggled closer. “You’re so worth it. Besides, I  _ want _ to see you. Making you a priority isn’t a hardship.” 

Luka grinned, and squeezed her tightly. “Go put on your comfy clothes and relax,” he told her. “I’ll get dinner set up, it won’t take long. We can just eat on the couch and not mess around with setting the table and all the fancy stuff.” 

Marinette giggled. “Eating off a plate is fancy?”

“It was in my house,” Luka chuckled. 

It gave him a weird little thrill when she walked over to her balcony door, pushed the pink curtain aside and peeled off the black cat decal that was Chat’s signal he was welcome. Luka’s guitar symbol remained, warning Chat that he was here. She must have put it up when he let her know he was on his way. Chat would know not to bother them unless he really needed them, and that if he did, he was expected to use the door and  _ knock _ . Luka felt his pulse quicken as Marinette set aside the cat decal, and was embarrassed to realize he was developing a conditioned response to seeing her close the metaphorical cat flap.

Marinette grinned and winked at him as she turned and went toward her bedroom, and Luka blushed harder. God, how embarrassing, he hoped she didn’t think he was expecting anything, she was clearly exhausted and emotionally wrung out, and while he would certainly be willing to take her mind off things that way he would never want her to think he was just going to jump her every time she— 

“Luka,” said a soft voice near him, and he jumped a little to find Tikki looking at him with a knowing smile, the snake bangle dangling from her paws. He took it and slipped it on. Sass flashed into existence and took his favorite place on Luka’s shoulder, his tail curling around Luka’s neck. 

“Did you get extra fortune cookies?” Tikki asked

“Of course,” Luka chuckled, picking up the take out bag. “And egg drop soup.” Sass hissed his pleasure. 

He sang as he unloaded everything in the kitchen, and Tikki danced in the air to the tune of his song, making him smile, until he found the package of fortune cookies and held it up for her. She took it from him, and then floated out of the kitchen with a giggle and a teasing, sing-songy “Enjoy your evening!”

Luka ignored Sass’s hissing laugh as he pulled out the soup container and fished around in the cabinet for one of the small, shallow dishes the kwami could use. He poured some of the soup out into it and exchanged a pinky-to-flipper fistbump with Sass. The two of them had never needed to say much. They just enjoyed each other’s company. 

He kept singing as he moved everything to the coffee table and got drinks for them both, knowing Marinette could hear him and enjoyed his singing, and honestly feeling light enough that he probably couldn’t have helped it anyway. 

Luka’s phone buzzed and he pulled it out. He had a message from Adrien.

_ Rough session today. Mari okay? _

Luka sent back,  _ Looks exhausted, but I’m here now. I’ll take care of her. _

The return message came quickly.  _ Thanks. Glad she has you.  _

Luka smiled faintly and texted,  _ What about you? You ok? _

Adrien texted back,  _ With Nino. Knew it’d be rough today so I’m staying at his place tonight. He got me junk food and action movies. Therapist said no booze :( _

Luka rolled his eyes.  _ Sounds like a plan. You hate drinking anyway. You know where to find us if you need us.  _

_ No thanks between your wicked left hook and Mari’s razor tongue I think I’m better off not interrupting  _

Luka chuckled.  _ I like her tongue just fine. _

_ Gross, Couffaine. I will be with Mari at your gig this weekend though so by all means get it out of your system before I get there. Signing off now, I have to eat some nachos and kick Nino’s ass at Mecha strike. _

Luka sent him a kiss emoji and a tongue emoji.

Adrien sent him a middle finger back. Luka laughed and took the food into the living room, glad that their friend seemed to be making progress sorting through his pile of issues. It would take time, a lot of time, to work through every bit of baggage he’d been saddled with all the way back to his mother’s disappearance, but he’d made great progress in the short time he’d been going. He was still often clingy and needy, especially with Marinette, but he wasn’t suffocating to hang out with anymore. Of course, he still had his moments, but he was getting better at facing and correcting his mistakes instead of trying to maintain the facade of perfection he’d been forced into since childhood.

Luka and Marinette curled together on the couch, eating straight out of the boxes they traded back and forth, talking mostly about light topics; his music and the gigs he had lined up, Marinette’s latest inspiration, the silly things the kwamis got up to when she let them out. 

They’d lapsed into comfortable silence when Marinette suddenly spoke. “Even though it was hard,” Marinette told him thoughtfully, poking around in the carton with her chopsticks. “It was also kind of nice. Being a team again. Feeling like...we were facing the problem together, instead of seeing each other as the problem. We’re supposed to be partners, and I feel like we both forgot that a little bit after the reveal.”

“That’s good.” Knowing what she was looking for, Luka dug into his own box and offered her a water chestnut from his chopsticks. She took it delicately in her teeth as he continued, “That sounds like a great step forward, and worth the effort even if it was hard.” 

When Marinette declined any more food, Luka took the remains into the kitchen, and then came back and gathered her close. Marinette leaned back against him with a sigh as he slipped his hands under her shirt to rest on her abs. He loved the play of her muscles under his hands as she stretched. 

“Juleka’s going to be in town next week,” he said softly, nuzzling her hair. “You don’t have to decide right now, but if you have some free time maybe we could have dinner with my family.” 

Marinette hummed. “It would be nice to see Juleka again.” She looked so drained and exhausted, his heart ached. 

“What do you need from me tonight?” he asked tenderly. He reached up and let her hair fall free of the alligator clip she’d used to pile it up out of her face. He dropped the clip on the table and ran the fingers of both hands through her hair. “We can do anything you feel like. Back rub and a movie? Or just some music?” Marinette’s eyes closed and her lips parted in a sigh as she let her head tip back. He ran his fingers through her hair again, kissing her temple softly.

”I don’t need anything else,” she whispered, turning to lay against his chest. “Just you. Just like this.” 

“Of course,” he murmured as she leaned up leaned up and kissed him, long and slow, and he cradled her face, brushing his thumbs against her cheeks as his fingers wrapped around her neck. When she started to slip away, he pulled her back gently into another slow kiss before letting her slide back down. Marinette sighed and settled fully into his lap, slipping her arms around his waist and pressing her face into his neck. Luka resumed running his fingers through her hair, enjoying the contented little noises she made. 

Luka let his mind drift as they rested there together, humming softly the music that Marinette always inspired in him, using every trick he’d learned back when they were kids and a few more he’d picked up more recently to make sure Marinette was relaxed and comfortable. The kwamis joined them, finished with their own treats and apparently deciding nothing too embarrassing was going on out here. Tikki cuddled into Marinette’s neck and Sass resumed his place on Luka’s shoulder.

Marinette reached up to pat Tikki and sighed. “Sorry, Luka,” she mumbled. “I was all excited to spend time with you and now I’m practically falling asleep.”

“You know I don’t mind what we do as long as you’re here,” he told her, kissing the top of her head and moving his hands to rub gently at the tension in her shoulders. “I knew you’d be wiped out. I’m glad you can relax with me.” Her sigh against his neck made him shiver, but he felt her weight settle on him and knew she really had fallen asleep. He chuckled. “Poor thing.”

“She has carried many burdensss for many years,” Sass observed. “It is difficult, but good, for her to finally begin putting some down. Of course,” he added slyly, with a flick of his forked tongue and a flash of his tiny fangs. “It would be even better if she had a  _ permanent _ companion to share in thossse that mussst remain.”

“Sass!” Tikki giggled. Luka felt his face heat as the kwamis chuckled. 

“I don’t think we’re quite ready for that leap yet, Sass,” he replied as calmly as he could manage, though his mind went immediately to the currently tiny fund he’d begun to set aside in hopes that when they  _ were _ ready, he’d be able to get Marinette something nice. Marinette deserved nice things. 

Luka thought about everything they’d been through and how far they’d come; all the complications that came with being with her, and the rough road still ahead. He thought about how strong she was in body and spirit, and how brave she was, not just in the big things but in the little, everyday things too, and how much it touched him that she let him be her safe place. He thought about how much he loved her. “Some day,” he said, looking down at her. “But for now, this is nice, just like this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are finally at the end! Thank you all so much for taking this journey with me. I had a plan when I started out to write this and some of it went the way I expected and some of it veered off course a bit, but it was definitely an experience and the response has been amazing. I appreciate everyone who didn't want the story to end, but I'm actually kind of excited about it, because I have so many other cool projects to work out. Shout out to my LBSC writing buddies who put up with all of my paranoid freaking out especially over the last week or two as I tried to bring this to a climax and close. 
> 
> And thank you, thank you for everyone who's read and commented, I've been trying to keep up and even if I missed a reply here and there I deeply appreciated all of it! I'm also super grateful for the event mods who put the prompts out, even though I maybe pushed the rules a little bit here and there where I needed to for the story. 
> 
> If you love the Lukanette with Adrien friendship, check out my story All in the Family which is a collection of their family life down the road. I didn't intentionally write this as a prequel to that piece, but it kind of works? 
> 
> Stay tuned for future projects, including some more pieces for I'll Never Not Know You and hopefully another multichap piece I've been working on for a while now. You can find me at quickspinner.tumblr.com (but everything I post there gets published here too, so you won't miss anything if you don't have tumblr or don't care to follow me)


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